Mass Effect: Nanovictory
by Caesarus
Summary: Taking place in an Crysis AU, where Prophet tried to take on the Ceph Lithoship on his own, without the "Tunguska Iteration" upgrade Hargreave possessed.
1. Chapter 1

**Below the Central Park, Ceph Lithoship Interior**

**August 18****th****, 2023**

_Energy Critical _– Nanosuit's on-board AI SECOND fed the information directly into Prophet's brain.

"Shit…" – Prophet muttered to himself. Indeed, being surrounded with several dozen Ceph was not the best time for the Nanosuit's cloak to fail. Prophet turned his attention to the Energy bar. It said that he had only 20% of suit energy left. He looked around trying to find some cover, where he could regenerate his suit energy reserves.

_Tactical Options Available _– SECOND once more fed additional information about the situation to Prophet. He brought up his Tactical Visor. Seeing the cover he so desperately needed, he slowly walked toward it. At this point, with only 12% energy left, conserving the energy was the priority. As paradoxal as it is, walking slow to life-saving cover was the only way to do it.

To Prophet, the walk appeared to last even longer than it actually did. With only 2% energy left, he finally made it to cover.

_Insufficient Energy - Disengaging Cloak _– SECOND again kept Prophet up to date. The cloak automatically turned off, leaving the Nanosuit in its default Power Mode. Prophet now hoped that some random Ceph Grunt on patrol wouldn't walk up on him. Alerting the Ceph of his presence right now would be suicidal. With hundreds of Ceph inside the Lithoship, it would be impossible for him to escape.

With a barely hearable beep the Suit informed Prophet that his energy levels were back at 100%. He reactivated the cloak and proceeded down the alien – Yet familiar – corridor. He would only have a few minutes or so now until the biobombs he placed on the ship's spires and vein exploded. After that, the Ceph will definitely know that there was an intruded on board, making his job even more difficult.

On the other hand, he couldn't afford to run either. It would make his energy drain that much larger. And, chances are, he would be spotted even sooner. Thankfully, the ship's main structure is only a few corridors away.

Prophet passed near an unsuspecting Ceph Trooper. Thanks to the Nanosuit's upgrades, even Ceph Devastators had trouble spotting him under cloak. This mere Grunt never knew anything passed near him.

The next corridor was free of any Ceph. This inclined Prophet to disengage his cloak and recharge – Given that he was more comfortable having his energy levels above 50%. He decided against it, however, because the corridor also lacked any sort of cover and would leave him completely exposed should any Ceph come.

A series of loud explosions were heard, followed by what could be classified as an earthquake. SECOND immediately adjusted the bar that represented enemy awareness. Prophet did not like what he saw – The bar was at almost 100% awareness. That meant that the Ceph were that much more likely to reinforce the main structure He entered the chamber that contained the main structure. On the catwalk that separated Prophet from his entry point on the structure stood a lone Grunt. Prophet slowly sneaked behind the trooper. He knew that his detection was inevitable, so he decided to have it on his own terms.

As he stood behind the Grunt, he pulled out his combat knife. He then grabbed the Ceph's head and stabbed the knife in its version of neck. The Ceph, unfortunately, managed to give out a rather loud roar that attracted the attention of every single Ceph soldier in the chamber.

A few spotted him before his cloak could get back online and opened fire, the others soon started firing in Prophet's general direction, likely hoping to hit him at random. Seeing that evading the enemy fire is impossible, Prophet switched to his power mode and with some 30% of the energy left, started charging toward the entry point. A Ceph Devastator fired a missile at him.

Prophet seeing the missile, engaged his Armor Mode, however he knew it was of little use, given that he had only a small portion of suit energy left. The missile impacted nearby, and managed to drain what little energy the suit had left.

Prophet, however, continued advancing toward the main structure unrelentlessly. The enemy's projectiles hit him several times. Without the Nanosuit he would've been dead from all that Ceph fire for certain. SECOND warned him that his health is critical.

With a few final steps, Prophet entered the structure. Whether or not his Nanosuit would interface correctly with the Ceph technology was questionable at best. He had still failed to acquire the "Tunguska Iteration" from Hargreave, as his former boss wasn't very enthusiastic to give a weapon that could save the Human race to someone who (from his point of view) betrayed him.

_Critical Systems Failure_

_Nanosuit Rebooting_

_Switching to Core Functions_

_Foreign Intrusion Detected_

_Analyzing…_

_Not Enough Common Code, Rejecting…_

"Dammit! Damn you, Hargreave! You fucking blew our only chance!" – Prophet screamed to no one in particular, as his suit continued it's monologue.

_Rejection failure_

_Critical Core Systems Failure_

_Foreign Intrusion Accessing the Deep Layers…_

_Initiating countermeasures…_

_Countermeasures failing…_

_Foreign Intrusion Accessing the Deep Layers…_

_Analyzing…_

_Rewritten Nanocatalysts Assimilated by the Intrusion_

"Wait, the ship's actually assimilating the catalysts? This is working after all…" – Prophet thought, with a sigh of relief.

_Hazardous Environmental Change Detected…_

_Analyzing…_

_Lithoship's Core Destabilizing…_

_20 Megaton Explosion Imminent_

_Scanning for Tactical Options…_

_No Tactical Options Detected_

"Oh shit…" – Prophet mumbled, knowing that he's as good as dead.

_Critical Threat Detected…_

_No Countermeasures Available_

_Massive Energy Output Detected_

The explosion violently shook the entire structure. As the shockwave advanced toward Prophet, the Nanosuit continued to report, as he knew it would until the very last moment. The final words he'd remember would be:

_Critical Thread Approaching_

_No Countermeasures Available_

_Critical Systems Failure_

_Switching to Core Systems_

_Attempting to Reboot the Nanosuit_

_Critical Core Systems Failure…_

_Atte…_

Then everything suddenly turned to black, as he lost consciousness.

**Unknown Location**

**Unknown Date**

_Critical Core Systems Failure Detected_

_Isolating the Error_

_Error Corrected_

_Switching to Core Systems_

_Checking User Vital Signs_

_User Status: KIA_

_Massive Damage to User Detected_

_Affecting Repairs to User_

_User Status: Salvageable_

_User Consciousness Backup Status: Stored and Undamaged_

_Estimated Repair Time: 12 Hours 26 Minutes 19 Seconds_

_Critical Systems Failure Detected_

_Systems Repair Delayed until User is Operational_

SECOND continued its monologue for the duration of the "repairs" it conducted. Nanosuit's Symbiosis with its user was one of those things that were both a gift and a curse: It meant that the Nanosuit's user couldn't die as long as the suit had an energy reserve. Due to the fact that Nanosuit's user couldn't remove his Nanosuit due to that same symbiosis also meant that the user was condemned to living out a near-eternity in the suit.

Fortunately for Prophet, his suit did have a source of energy, and a rather powerful one at that: The Lithoship's explosion overloaded and nearly fried the suit's energy capacitors.

Some twelve hours later, Prophet awakened to a rather loud screech. He immediately looked to his left, where he saw an immensely large ship that somewhat resembled the Ceph Lithoship due to its tentacles.

"What the hell? How the fuck did the Lithoship survive?" - He said to himself, unbelieving – "And also, how the hell did survive a 20 megaton blast?"

Then, all the sudden, SECOND started feeding some information:

_Higher Suit Functions Repaired_

_Switching to Higher Suit Functions_

_Warning: Threat Detected_

_Analyzing…_

_Vessel of Unknown Origin_

_Closest Analogue: Ceph Lithoship_

"That doesn't sound good. But I'll have to think about it later. My first priority should be: Where the hell am I?" – Prophet thought. Almost in response, the AI said:

_Unable to Determine the Location: No GPS Satellites Detected_

"How long was I out? Doesn't matter, I still have to be cautious. God knows the Ceph are probably here."

With that, Prophet engaged his cloak. He knew that finding a weapon – As he has lost his – Was a must. He walked forward, where he spotted some crates that could be used for cover. As he approached he spotted a body. Given that it could possibly have some weapons on it, he decided to inspect it.

Prophet immediately noticed something odd about the body. As he approached it, he noticed that it was not human. But it was not Ceph either. He saw what appeared to be a gun. Not like any gun he has ever seen, but it was far better than nothing. As he picked it up, his AI once more commented:

_Error: Unable to Interface with Weapon_

"Great." – Prophet thought – "Let's just hope that it is not out of ammo, eh?"

_Potential Threat Detected: Unknown incoming_

_Tactical Options Available_

Prophet pulled up his Tactical Vision and soon realized what his AI was talking about. Three armed humans descended down the nearby hill. One of them was a woman, while the other two were men. SECOND failed to provide any additional information about them. He decided to go behind the crates and recharge his suit's energy.

Once that was done, he cloaked again and jumped onto a crate nearby, and waited for the unknown – Quite possibly hostile – Humans to come to him.

As they approached one of men spoke: "Damn, is that Nihilus?"

"I am afraid so… Damn it!" – The apparent leader answered.

The humans continued their dialogue, and Prophet decided that if he was to strike, the time was now. He jumped down from the crate. He didn't have much suit energy left. Only about 25%. He wouldn't need it for long.

Prophet sneaked behind the woman and pulled out his combat knife.

"Hey, you hear that humming noise?" – She said to the others.

"What hummi… Holy shit!" – The other, non-leader, man spoke as Prophet decloaked, grabbed the woman – Catching her off guard – And put his knife to her throat.

"Listen up! If you try to raise your weapons, she dies. If you do not answer my questions, she dies. Got it?" – Prophet yelled out, which, thanks to his voice amplifier, came out even louder than he intended.

"Listen, we're not your enemy! We're with the Systems Alliance; we came here after we heard the distress signal!" - The leader spoke out.

"There is no "Systems Alliance", who are you working for? Hargreave? I bet the man's still pretty pissed I stole his billion dollar suit!" – Prophet came back.

"We don't even know who this Hargrave is!" – The other man spoke out.

"Can I know who I am speaking with?" – The leader said.

"They call me Prophet. And I find it damn interesting that a CELL Commando wouldn't know this."

The leader gave him a questioning look, obviously confused. Then he spoke: "What is CELL?"

"Alright, who the hell are you people?"

"I'm Commander Shepard, this is Lieutenant Alenko and the woman you're holding is Gunnery Chief Williams. We are with the Systems Alliance."

"What Systems Alliance?"

This only confused the group further. "You haven't heard of the Systems Alliance?" – Shepard asked.

"Would I be asking if I had?"

"The Systems Alliance is the federal government that rules over the Earth and her Colonies."

"Yeah right, how stupid do you think I am? We couldn't have possibly reverse-engineered the space traveling tech from the Ceph, colonized the galaxy _and _unified the Earth under same banner while I was knocked out."

"Who are the Ceph…? Look, let's discuss this with out weapons down."

"Sure, I trust you that much already." – Prophet responded, with notable sarcasm.

"Look, we'll drop our weapons."

"Are you sure that's wise Commander?" – Alenko asked.

"Conflict isn't going to solve this, Kaiden." – Shepard answered.

Shepard and Kaiden lowered dropped their weapons and Prophet released his grip on Chief Williams, who immediately ran towards her group. Now that he has released his hostage, Prophet's Nanosuit became far more visible, as much as it became obvious that it wasn't any random infiltrator battle armor. Another thing that became visible is that Prophet had an assault rifle. He raised the rifle and pointed it in Shepard's general direction

"Whoa, I thought we agreed to drop our weapons?" – Shepard yelled.

"So we did. And you trusted me. Your loss, my gain. Now, where the fuck is this place? And don't give me that space travel bullshit!" – Prophet yelled back.

"This is Eden Prime a human colon…" – Then Shepard saw Prophet raise his rifle and prepare to shoot.

"If you keep repeating that bullshit, then you are of no use to me, CELL Operative." – Prophet said.

"Kaiden! Biotics!" – Shepard ordered.

"Gladly Sir!" – Kaiden responded, taking the rifle away from Prophet with his biotics.

"The fuck…?" – Prophet muttered.

_Threat Detected _– Prophet's onboard AI informed him as both Kaiden and Shepard picked up their rifles. Prophet knew what to do.

_Maximum Armor_

With that, his suit began adapting into armor. Prophet ran for his rifle and Shepard order his team to open fire. The shots didn't take a great toll on his armor, reducing the suit's energy to just under 80%. However, as Prophet raised his rifle on Shepard's squad something did take a far larger toll on the armor. Kaiden raised Prophet in the air and slammed him down onto the ground.

_Energy Critical_

_Dark Energy Anomaly Detected…_

_Analyzing…_

_Source: Hostile Human_

_Tactical Retreat Advised_

However, given that Kaiden's biotics drained his suit's energy, Prophet knew that he couldn't retreat. Instead, he raised his rifle, and with almost supernatural accuracy, began firing at Kaiden. His shields soon dropped and Prophet fired one last burst that hit Kaiden's legs and injuring him. This distracted Shepard and Williams long enough for his energy reserves to resupply. He then, activating his Power Mode, ran for cover behind a crate.

When Shepard finally got around to searching for Prophet, he was long gone, obviously using his cloak to slip past him and Williams.


	2. Chapter 2

**Eden Prime**

**Unknown Date**

"Alright… That was intense." – Prophet mumbled to himself while sitting behind a cover. "What the hell happened back there? That guy lifted me up in the air with his mind or something."

A barely audible beep informed Prophet that his suit was once more at 100% energy. Prophet could still see Shepard and his squad from his position. He could see that they, for whatever reason, weren't going anywhere. He decided to follow them, since they appeared to be the only source of information.

_Cloak Engaged_

Prophet started moving slowly towards cover that is closer to Shepard and his team.

"Whatever Hargreave's given to that trooper must be some just-completed prototype." – Prophet concluded. – "If he had it before, he would've integrated it into the Nanosuit 2. He was obsessed with making perfect battle armor, after all."

Prophet got to what seemed like a makeshift one-room house to him. He was at the same hill Shepard and his squad came for. He engaged his Tactical Visor and zoomed in. He could see that Shepard was still busy treating Alenko's injury. He decided to bring up the Sound Amplification Unit he had, so that he could hear anything they said – Just without the lies he thought they were feeding him.

"There, that should do it." – Shepard said.

"That's better. Thanks a lot, Commander." – Alenko replied.

"There's still the issue of… What did he call himself? Prophet?" – Williams stated.

"Yeah… I mean, what was that suit he was wearing? I mean, I saw Infiltrator Armor's cloak, but it wasn't nearly as effective as Prophet's." – Kaiden said.

"And that's not mentioning the fact that he managed to survive _a lot _of our fire without shields. And after that he ran away faster than a cheetah…" – Williams added.

"We still have a mission here. Prophet's delayed us a lot. The Geth might reach the beacon before us and we can't let that happen." – Said Shepard, in hopes of getting his team to refocus on the mission at hand.

"You're right Commander." – The Gunnery Chief replied.

"But we have a problem: We have no idea where the beacon is."

"Well, they could've taken it to the Spaceport. There's a tram that leads there and it's not far away."

"Alright, let's go."

Prophet brought down his Tactical Visor and let out a long sigh.

"Acting even when I'm not around. These are going to be tough nuts to crack." – He muttered, with a hint of annoyance in his voice. He waited until Shepard and his squad went behind the corner before switching to Power Mode. He waited few seconds before the lost energy regenerated before running toward the crates.

When he was somewhere between his original position and crates he heard gunshots. Lots of them.

"The Ceph? Guess it was just a matter of time before they showed up." – Prophet thought.

He reactivated his cloak. Although he was at 67% energy, he figured that he would have enough time to find a spot to observe the battle. Truth be said, he was interested in seeing how Alenko's "superpowers" would do in an actual battle against the Ceph

As he, much to his annoyance, found little cover. He decided to go to the corner of the building he saw Shepard's team go behind. He decloaked and waited for his energy reserves to recharge. Within a few seconds, he was cloaked again. He leaned around the corner. First thing he saw was a humanoid form lifted in the air by – Obviously – Alenko. The next second, it got smashed onto the ground, and as a result exploding.

Prophet brought his Tactical Visor on again, and zoomed in at the battle. The next thing he saw got him confused. The enemy Shepard was fighting – Whilst looking vaguely like a Ceph Grunt – Appeared to be completely mechanized and had a flashlight for a head. Not that it had the head for long, as Shepard blew it off with his assault rifle.

"The hell are those things?" – Prophet continued to watch the battle as few more of the flashlight-heads fell. "One thing is for certain: They die a lot easier than the Ceph do."

He then spotted a larger flashlight-head. Despite Shepard squad's efforts, it stood its ground against all the bullets that were hitting it.

"I guess this must be their version of a Ceph Devastator…"

It, however, even with all its efforts to stop Shepard – failed and fell, along its comrades-in-arms. Prophet's energy reserves started running a bit low again. He repeated the recharging cycle once more. When he leaned he was unsurprised to find that the mechanics were all down.

"Alright! Everybody onto the tram!" – Shepard ordered his team. The tram itself appeared a bit odd to the Prophet, but more importantly it was the only way to see where Shepard's team was headed. There was no way to follow them besides the tram. This meant one thing to Prophet.

In close quarters, with the element of surprise, he knew he could kill them all with ease. But he was no longer certain that was the correct course of action. A lot of things were out of place here. There was that Cephoid ship he saw when he first woke up. Then there was this alien body, and then Alenko's "superpowers" and then these mechanoids. It simply didn't add up and he knew it. He, by no means, trusted Shepard. But he wasn't so sure he was with CryNet either.

Prophet took something that looked like a miniaturized grenade launcher out of a compartment in his Nanosuit and stared on it for a few seconds.

"Paralyzing darts… Haven't used these since the mission to Lingshan Islands." – He thought as he made his way toward the tram that was soon to depart.

He followed Shepard's squad onto the tram, and just as they were getting ready to depart he decloaked.

_Maximum Armor_ – His onboard AI stated the obvious after Prophet activated the armor mode. Kaiden barely had the time to recognize Prophet's presence before the latter fired the paralyzing dart into former's neck – His shields not recognizing the dart as anything of danger due to it's relatively slow speed. Prophet then slammed the butt of his assault rifle into Williams' head, knocking her out for good.

Shepard was the only one who truly had the time to respond. He grabbed his assault rifle and fired at Prophet, but to little avail. His bullets failed to do any considerable damage to Prophet's armor.

As Prophet tried to disarm Shepard, he was surprised that Shepard has pulled out a combat knife. Shepard tried to stab the Nanosuit Commando through what he figured out was the only weakness the Nanosuit possessed: The helmet's visor. Prophet managed to move his hand just in time to prevent Shepard from killing him. The knife has impacted the palm of Prophet's hand and did no damage thanks to the armor.

Prophet then – With one swift move – Disarmed Shepard of his last weapon. He then switched his Power Mode on and proceeded to punch Shepard in the head, rendering him unconscious.

What followed were a few minutes of wait until the tram arrived at its destination. Prophet, expecting more mechanoids like the ones he saw Shepard fight pulled up his Tactical Visor and zoomed in. He wasn't disappointed. There was at least a platoon of them waiting.

Prophet switched to his Cloak, and hoped that none of those flashlight-heads spotted him. As the tram stopped, a mech decided to board it, in order to investigate why the tram arrived. When it stepped on board, it became what only could be described as its version of confused. Prophet saw the chance, and used his already prepared knife to stab the mech's head. Its distinctive lightbulb-head immediately stopped glowing.

The other mechanoids, apparently instantly aware of what happened, turned towards now-decloaked Prophet and opened fire. Their bullets, however, succeeded only in hitting their former comrade.

Prophet rushed to the catwalk's wall, and then waited for a few seconds until his energy reserves recharged. Then he activated his armor mode and leaned over the cover, shooting up a few mechs. SECOND interjected again:

_Warning: Radioactive Materials Detected in the Vicinity_

_Analyzing…_

_Analysis complete…_

_Nuclear Weapon Detected_

_Status: Armed_

"So I survived nuking of the Lingshan Islands, then a 20 megaton blast and now I'm greeted with _more_ nukes?" – Prophet said out loud. – "Destiny's a bitch!"

He then leaned out of cover again and shot the remaining mechs. Then he began looking for the nuke.

"Those mechs must have been guarding something. I'd guess the nuke's where the mechs were." – He remarked.

And his remark turned out to be correct. He walked next to the nuke as his on-board AI began the analysis.

_Magnitude: 100 Kilotons_

"More than enough to wipe this place out."

_Status: 10 Minutes 23 Seconds until Detonation_

_Recommended Course of Action: Attempt an Interface with Weapon in Order to Disable It _

Prophet placed his left hand on what appeared to be the nuke's countdown computer.

_Foreign Code Detected_

_Common Code Found_

_Interfacing with the Foreign Code_

_Interface Complete_

_Disabling the Device_

_Firewalls Breached_

_Device Disabled_

_Interface Link Cut _

Prophet was relieved. But he knew that there might some hostiles left around. He did see that there was an opening that leads to another chamber just some ten meters away from him.

_Cloak Engaged_

Prophet started moving towards the opening and passed through it. He saw some crates and decided to use them as cover. When he looked down upon the rest of the chamber he saw a dozen mechs in defensive positions as well as four spikes with humans impaled at them. The spikes – With their grotesqueness – Reminded him of the Ceph and how they used to "harvest" Manhattan Virus-infected human flesh back in the New York.

"Is that a form of torture?" – Prophet thought. - "No, doesn't make any sense… That kind of impaling would kill its victims instantly."

The mechs were apparently defending some sort of device. If he had to guess, this was the "beacon" Shepard talked about. Among the mechs was also the "Devastator" version he saw earlier.

"This is going to be an interesting fight…" – He muttered to himself, as he switched his Cloak for the Armor Mode and opened fire on the nearest mech, which fell nearly the same instant it was hit by Prophet's burst. The other mechs opened fire on him, and managed to keep him suppressed.

Prophet switched back to his cloak and moved a bit further to the right. He then took aim and just as he decloaked, he blew a mech's head off. Before the mechs could fire at him again, Prophet managed to fire another burst, killing yet another mech in the process.

He could hear the "Devastator" mech growling in a language that was somewhat similar to that which Ceph used. And as he leaned out to see what was going on, half of the mechs stopped firing and started moving in to flank him. He would have little problem taking them out, were it not for the remaining mechs who kept him suppressed.

"Guess I'll just have to take this up close and personal, huh?" – He said, while deactivating the armor, knowing he only had so much time to recharge his energy reserves until the mechs flanked him.

As his suit energy recharged, he could see that the mechs were close to their flanking position. He switched to the Power Mode and started running toward them at superhuman speed. The as the mechs started opening fire on him, he started sliding across the floor with his momentum, giving him enough speed to shoot at the rather surprised lightbulb-heads, taking them out one by one.

This, however, left his suit energy drained. He had to find cover soon or face death at the hands of the other mechs. He couldn't run back to where he started and there was little cover besides that.

Then he looked down and saw that the mechs he just killed could provide somewhat decent cover, at least while he was lying down. As he had little choice he dived near a mech and – While using it as cover – Fired back at the remaining hostiles.

The "Devastator" became annoyed – That is as much as a machine could be annoyed – As its remaining troopers began to fall. It ordered one of his few remaining soldiers to do something, as it pointed at the spikes. The trooper complied and ran up to the spikes, from Prophet's perspective activating them. Prophet gladly finished off the mech in question, and became somewhat confused to see that the spikes were lowering themselves. However, he had little time to think about it as he had to continue to pressure the "Devastator" and its three remaining mechs.

What happened next still made him hold his fire for a few seconds. The bodies on the spikes got up from them and began charging at him with a horrifying growl.

"What the fuck?" – Prophet yelled when he saw what was going on. The bodies themselves appeared hostile enough for Prophet to divert his fire toward them. The "Devastator" saw an opportunity and began sort of a banzai charge at Prophet with its remaining soldiers.

Prophet managed to take down the charging bodies, only to see that the "Devastator" got hell of a lot closer. He fired at the three remaining smaller mechs in hopes of reducing the hostile group's overall firepower. He first fired at the nearest enemy trooper, who fell almost instantly. With his assault rifle he beheaded the next mech and then started focusing on the third and last lightbulb-head, which shared the same fate as its predecessors.

Only the "Devastator" was now left. And it was just some five meters away from Prophet. Knowing it took Shepard and his team some good fifteen seconds of constant fire to take down the previous "Devastator", Prophet knew that he couldn't hope to take on the mech at the current distance. He instead, now that his suit's energy was again recharged, cloaked and began running away from his previous position as the mech opened fire on it with its shotgun. Due to him running the cloak would last far less, but this was irrelevant given that he was already behind the same crate he used as cover earlier. He decloaked and began firing at the hostile, with little apparent damage. The mech started charging on Prophet once more. Prophet kept up the fire, in hopes of damaging the mech a little further. Unfortunately his assault rifle overheated.

"Dammit!" – Was all he had time to yell before the mech was in its weapons range.

It was a now or never situation, and Prophet knew it. He activated his Nanosuit's Power Mode and began charging at the apparently undefeatable hostile. The "Devastator" wasted little time to fire its shotgun at Prophet.

_Health Critical _– SECOND informed Prophet once more.

Prophet continued charging at his opponent. And now, only a few inches away from it, Prophet used the every last bit of superhuman strength his Nanosuit could offer him to punch the mech's head. The "Devastator" was completely unprepared for this kind of attack and failed to block the punch. Its head stopped glowing and it slowly fell before Prophet.

"That was close. Let's see why they were defending that device." – Prophet commented to no one in particular, as he made his way toward the beacon.

He walked past the cybernetics-implanted bodies and realized just how much grotesque they were. Yet in a way – He was no different. His suit sort of became a cybernetic implant of its own due to the Symbiosis. He realized this himself, but couldn't help but frown at the abominations that were now behind him.

"Hmm… What is this thing?" – He said circling around the beacon.

Suddenly, it apparently activated. And before he could react it lifted him up in the air and some sort of light began glowing in his face.

_Warning: Threat Detected_

_Foreign Intrusion Detected_

_Common Code Detected_

_Firewalls Raised_

_Warning: Foreign Intrusion Attempting to Download Data Into User's Central Nervous System_

_Countermeasures Initiated_

_Critical Systems Failure_

_Switching to…_

_Critical Core Systems Failure_

_Critical AI Failure_

Prophet then saw what appeared to be endless streams of programming code appear on his HUD. Then suddenly, the code was gone. Replacing it were images of random and brutal acts of violence, scales of which reminded him of the combat he saw in the Manhattan… But these were not the Ceph, they were something completely different. The speed by which he saw the images increased to that speed that he couldn't decipher what he saw before seeing the next image. This could've lasted for mere seconds or entire days. Prophet lost all sense of time.

Then, the images stopped uploading themselves to Prophet's brain and suddenly, the beacon exploded, rendering Prophet unconscious.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**This chapter, as you probably noticed, took a bit longer to publish. I apologize for this, but I had been busy and couldn't dedicate a lot of time to this story. I'll try to publish at least two chapters per week.

So far I've received 7 reviews, 12 favs and 12 alerts! Thanks guys! You've encouraged me to continue writing!

Now, without further ado…

**Eden Prime**

**July 21st 2183**

"Commander…" – Shepard could hear a voice in the distance.

"Commander!" – The same voice repeated itself.

"Shepard! Wake up, dammit!" – He heard the voice once more.

Shepard slowly started regaining consciousness. What happened before he was knocked out slowly started to get back to him. Then suddenly he felt a rather agonizing feeling in front of his head.

"A broken nose for sure… I'll be lucky if the rest of my face is intact…" – Shepard thought.

Then he opened his eyes. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams was standing in front of him.

"About goddamned time..." – Ashley commented.

"What happened to Kaiden?" – Shepard inquired, ignoring her previous comment.

"He got hit by some sort of dart… He was immobilized by some sort of paralyzing agent from what I can tell." – Ashley responded.

"Any hostiles in the vicinity?"

"Just bunch of dead Geth… If I had to guess, Prophet dropped them."

With one swift move, Shepard activated his radio link with the Normandy.

"Normandy, this is Shepard. Do you read me?"

"Commander, good to hear your voice! What the hell happened down there? We've been trying to contact you for an hour!" – A familiar voice responded. It was Captain Anderson.

"Long story Sir, but to make it short we were in pursuit of the Beacon when we were attacked by some sort of supersoldier… Jenkins' KIA, as well as Nihlus. Kaiden's currently knocked out by a paralyzing agent of sorts."

"Damn… Shepard! Do you think you can still complete the mission?"

"I'll do my best, Sir."

"Alright, contact me if you have anything to report. Anderson out."

Shepard sighed. He knew this wasn't going to look good. A squad member lost, Council's best Specter killed… He knew that he had to get to the Beacon before both the Geth and Prophet. He also knew that given how much time he has lost, the chances of that were as high as his current mission not descending into a political nightmare with the Council.

He slowly got up slowly, given that he was still pretty beaten up by Prophet's attack. Given that his assault rifle has been taken by Prophet, he picked up Kaiden's gun as it was far more useful to him than it was to his teammate at the moment.

"Williams! Stay here and guard Kaiden!" – He ordered.

"But Sir! Prophet managed to take us all out in what? Ten seconds? You really think that you even stand a chance against Prophet _and _the Geth alone?" – Ashley question, with some concern for her superior clearly visible in her voice.

"I lost one teammate today. I sure as hell am not risking losing another one!"

"Sir, if I may…"

"You may not, Gunnery Chief. Now follow your orders. "– Shepard interrupted her.

Shepard has always placed the lives of his team above his own. This time was no exception.

Shepard walked out of the tram, passing by the destroyed Geth. He saw the entrance that lead to the next chamber and passed by the deactivated nuke, paying little attention to it. When he walked into the next room first thing he saw was another Geth massacre. The next thing he saw was a rather dysfunctional and destroyed Prothean Beacon.

"Oh shit…" – He muttered as he approached the Beacon. Near the Beacon lied Prophet. From what Shepard could tell, he was unconscious. But he wasn't going to risk it and held his rifle up in the standby position.

"Shepard to Normandy… Tell Joker to set the Ship down at the Spaceport. The mission is done." – Shepard said with little of any emotion in his voice but bitter disappointment.

"Normandy to Shepard, what happened to the Beacon?"

"It is destroyed. Also, prepare a fully armed escort team. It would seem we will be taking a prisoner on board."

**SSV Normandy SR1**

**July 21st 2183**

"How's he doing, Doc?" – Shepard inquired about Alenko's status.

"He's fine. The paralyzer has already started to filter out of his blood. I suspect he'll be up and running again by the end of the day. Whatever this Prophet wanted to do, he most certainly did not intend to kill him. Also, Shepard, where in God's name did you learn to perform a surgery?" – Dr. Chakwas said.

"Uhm, I believe we had this First Aid lesson back in the Academy…"

"Alright, just try to leave it to the professionals next time, hmm?"

"OK, Doc, I promise I'll stick to the medigel next time. Hope I didn't do any permanent damage."

"You didn't. Let's just say I fixed the rough spots on your "masterpiece"." - Chakwas responded half-jokingly.

Medbay's doors opened to reveal Anderson. He walked into the medbay and greeted the two.

"Doctor, would you excuse us for a moment?" – He asked, but de facto ordered.

"Certainly." – Was all she replied before exiting the room.

"I'm not gonna lie to you Shepard. This doesn't look good at all. Nihlus' dead and the Beacon's destroyed. This is going to be one hell of a thing to explain to the Council." – Anderson stated.

"I know, Sir. I screwed up." – Shepard responded.

"We both know most of it wasn't your fault. The problem's that the Council will probably have hard time believing that. What may just get us out of this mess is the fact that we captured that supersoldier of yours… What can you tell me about him?"

"Lets put it this way: He appeared to be trained equally as an N7 Commando and given some real high-tech armor. His armor apparently possessed several modes: One that could make him invisible – And before you ask, far better than our current Infiltrator Cloaks – An armor mode that made him _extremely _resistant to everything we could throw at him, including Kaiden's biotics; and some sort of speed and strength mode that made him able to run fast as hell and have quite a right hook too. But there was something else that was odd about him: He claimed never to have heard about the Systems Alliance and called me a "CELL Operative", whatever that meant."

"Never heard of the Alliance? Every major power – The only ones that might be capable of producing anything near the likes of what you described – has heard of it. Nothing adds up about him. Either way, I'm going to have Chakwas and Adams see what they can find out about him."

"I'd suggest assigning an armed escort to them, there's no way we can be certain that any restraints we put on him will be able to keep him docile if he wakes up."

"Agreed. We don't want him loose if he wakes up."

**SSV Normandy SR1 Medbay**

**Few hours later**

Even though the Medbay wasn't a research station it was the closest thing the Normandy, being a stealth frigate rather than a research ship, could offer. This was one of those times when the entire Marine Contingent was mobilized. Chief Williams was leading them, given that Alenko, their Commander, was still unconscious.

"This isn't exactly a research lab, but I guess it's a bit safer to examine him here, rather then in the Engineering or the CIC." – Chakwas chatted with Adams.

"Normandy wasn't precisely designed as a research vessel. We'll have to do with what we have here. I hear that the armor he has is quite technological marvel. I know for a fact that my engineering team would do a lot to get their hands on it."

"Unfortunately for them, they aren't qualified enough." – Chakwas said and then sighed – "Even with all its high tech all that suit really is a highly sophisticated killing machine."

"True, whoever designed that thing wanted to create the ultimate soldier. And given that Prophet managed to beat Shepard is a testimony of designer's success."

"For that matter, are we even sure that there's a human in there? For all we know it's "just" an extremely sophisticated Geth."

"That's what we're here to find out, isn't it?"

Meanwhile, Ashley – Who decided to provide protection for Dr. Chakwas and Engineer Adams from inside the Medbay along with two other Marines – Received a radio transmission from one of her troopers, informing her that they were coming in with Prophet. After hearing the message, Ashley order one of the Marines to open the Medbay doors.

Two Marines came into the room, carrying Prophet who was tied to what could best be described as a mobile hospital bed.

"Ma'am, are those ties really necessary? I mean he's knocked out for good." – One of the Marines asked Ashley.

"Are you being intentionally ignorant here, Corporal…?" – Ashley talked back.

"Corporal Hansen, Ma'am. And no, I haven't heard anything besides rumors about this guy."

"Well, Hansen, let's just say that thing knocked out an N7 SpecOps with ease. Do you see the point of him being tied up now, Corporal?"

"Yes Ma'am, I suppose I do."

"Great. Now if you see our guest move, feel free to shoot him as long as you don't think you'll hit our CMO or Chief Engineer."

On the other side of the room, Chakwas and Adams were preparing to begin Prophet's examination.

"Shepard to Medbay" – Commander's voice could be heard over the Intercom – "I'm coming down there, don't start without me."

Some two minutes later Shepard entered the room, in his full armor and with an assault rifle in his hands.

"Sir, it isn't really necessary for you to be down here. The chances of Prophet actually waking up are slim at best, and even then we've got the situation under control." – Ashley said.

"I'm not risking it, Williams. On Eden Prime I ignored him as a threat for a minute and next thing I know my entire team is down." – Shepard answered.

"If you say so Sir…."

"Doc, feel free to begin!" – He said.

Chakwas and Adams then began assembling the necessary instruments, which took some ten minutes.

"Alright, I believe that's the last instrument that needed to be calibrated… He's all yours, Adams. Battle Armor is kind of out of my domain. If you find out there's a human in there, I'll take over." – Chakwas said, stepping aside in order free some space for Adams.

Adams stepped up to the instruments in place, and started performing basic measurements.

"Alright… The readings here are a scramble. Apparently there's something interfering with our scans, quite possibly the suit itself. The only thing I appear to be able to get is the constant energy levels of the suit… But there's no clear source of energy. It's almost like the entire suit is producing the energy." 

What Adams was not (and couldn't be for that matter) aware of is that Nanosuit's AI has long since reactivated itself, and was completely aware of the situation.

_Warning: Foreign Object Attempting to Scan the Nanosuit_

_Warning: User Unconscious_

_Attempting to Restore User Awareness_

_Injecting Adrenocorticotropin into User's Bloodstream_

"Whoa… Something's wrong here! The energy levels are spiking!" – Adams yelled.

"Adams, Chakwas, get the hell out of there!" – Shepard ordered, realizing what was happening.

_User Conscious_

_Threat Detected_

_Tactical Options Available_

Prophet looked down at the ties that were preventing him from moving. As he activated the Nanosuit's Power Mode, the pitiful restraints broke under pressure. He was loose.

"Open fire! OPEN FIRE!" – Williams order, raising her rifle.

"Belay that!" – Shepard counteracted Ashley's order.

"Sir, we know how well that worked out the last time!"

"She's right, Shepard. You should've taken me down while you had the chance." – Prophet said, now fully standing up and facing Shepard and the Marines.

Shepard realized that Prophet was thinking in clear military terms, and as such responded in military terms himself.

"You stand no chance." – He said – "You are surrounded. Outnumbered. Outgunned. There's no way you are going to survive a firefight, even if you had a gun. We are going to kill you if we have to."

"Better men have tried, Shepard. Better men have failed. Hell, even the Ceph themselves tried it! And they've been around forever, man. Planning their every step for hundreds of thousands of years! And they still failed."

"Who are the Ceph?" – Shepard responded, honestly confused.

"Don't pretend not to know. It serves little purpose."

"Well, enlighten me."

"Y'know, the aliens from god knows what galaxy who have been slaughtering everyone at the New York City for a while now and no one's been able to stop – At least until I blew up their little Lithoship – Does that ring any bells?"

There were few seconds of silence, as everyone was flabbergasted by what Prophet said.

"Commander, the man's obviously crazy – Just give us the word and we'll drop him." – Williams said to her Commander.

"Drop me? We all know how well that worked out the last time, now don't we?" – He said before realizing that his captors might truly be ignorant about what was going on in New York. – "Crazy? You know what they say, a picture's worth a thousand words."

_Establishing Remote Uplink_

_Transferring Relevant Data (Memory Segment 5-28)_

The monitor of the Chakwas' terminal came to life, displaying a scene in what appeared to be a luxury villa. Shepard and his team turned their attention to it, but didn't fully divert their attention from Prophet.

"You'll be my eyes and ears out there Prophet… Keep your team alive, this is a loyalty I can understand. Encourage, even. But your primary purpose is get back here alive and tell me what you saw…" – An old man, appearing over a monitor, said.

The scene then switched to interior of some sort of vehicle that was unknown to Shepard. Inside appeared to be an entire squad of troopers wearing armor similar to Prophet's.

"OK, listen up gentlemen. Intel reports significant military presence on the island, we've got the element of surprise so let's use it! The North Koreans can't know we're here." – Prophet's voice could be heard.

"They won't even know what hit him, heh." – A soldier interjected.

"Cannit, Psycho! Pay attention! This is a covert operation! Our job is to locate and evacuate! We're not at war here!" – Prophet replied.

"Not yet." – Psycho, in return, said.

"Prophet, do we even know if these people are still alive? – Another soldier asked.

"That's what we're here to find out. We've lost contact with Dr. Rosenthal a week ago, when the Korean military locked down the island. Two days ago, we picked up a distress beacon. Someone down there wants to be found."

A voice was heard, a bit mechanically distorted, like it was in ancient radios.

"Raptor Team, we're beginning the approach. Stand by for green."

"Alright, gear up, mask on! Once we clear the plane, form up on me! Chutes on my mark!"

The same distorted voice said again: "Green in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

"Go, go, go!"

The scene then switched to one of a frozen ship in middle of jungle.

"'Bout time you showed up!" – Prophet said to an approaching Nanosuit Soldier, before pointing to the ship. – "You believe this?"

"Looks like someone had a little trouble parkin' their boat."

"We seem to have hit a dead end. I've lost our secure channel to JSOC, too much electrical interference on this island."

"Aye, boss! I've got something! Topographic map, there's an area highlighted." – The soldier Prophet called Psycho earlier said, before throwing the map to Prophet.

"This valley here must be where the excavation site is located." – Prophet said.

"How can you be sure?" – Psycho responded.

"I'm not, but it's all we've got to go on. We need to get moving."

"I'm not going anywhere until you give me some answers… I'm not buying that "locate and evacuate" bullshit anymore."

"Yeah… Since when do North Koreans have themselves a motherfucking freeze ray?" – Another soldier asked.

"Damn straight! I feel like I've jumped into a bloody comic book here!" – The Psycho said.

"I've told you everything you need to know…" – Prophet said warning the soldier that he's over the line.

"That's bollocks and you know it! Aztec's dead, and we ain't got the slightest idea what killed him!" – Psycho came back.

"I saw him up close, boss! He was mutilated! Ripped in two! What are we dealing here, 'cus it ain't just Koreans?" – The second soldier demanded.

"Jester's right! If this Rosenthal guy was a proper nut, we wouldn't be here!" – The first soldier stated.

Prophet thrown the map onto the ground and advanced upon the first soldier.

"Cut the crap, Psycho! You've all been fully briefed! Our job is to find those people, and that's what we're going to do! We're moving out now, and that's an order!" – Prophet said.

While he was finishing the sentence, an almost animalistic growl could be heard behind them.

"Something's here!" – One of the soldiers said.

Then, all the sudden, what could be described as a huge metallic squid breached the ship, grabbed Jester and flew away.

"It's got Jester!" – The soldier Prophet called Psycho said.

"We've got to go! We've got to go now!" – Prophet said, while helping the other trooper to get up.

The scene then switched to one of Prophet and another soldier trooper being in jungle.

"The situation's FUBAR" – Prophet said – "I still can't reach JSOC on the secure channel. Must be another jammer. We've got to find it, and take it out! 'Till then, we're on our own. The highlighted area's about three clicks in this valley."

Some sort of noise was could be heard, so Prophet and the other soldier looked around.

"The sooner we're off this rock, the better." – He said.

Then he noticed some sort of electrical interference on his Nanosuit. Suddenly, the squid-like alien came out of nowhere and grabbed him, taking him away to what appeared to be a spaceship of sorts.

The next few memory segments were rather short and showed Prophet fighting the aliens, both in their ship and on the rest of the island, afterwards it showed Prophet walking out of a tunnel and then him standing in what Central Park appeared in early 21st Century.

"They were here…? They were here all along?" – Prophet could be heard.

The next scene was, once more, in the luxury villa.

"You knew! You fucking knew it all!" – Prophet raged at his employer – "You knew about the aliens! You knew that the Nanosuits were symbiotic! You turned my team into dead men walking!"

"I turned them into post-human warriors." – The old man said simply. – "Death's but an inconvenience now, Prophet. We are all dead men walking."

The next segments showed Prophet stealing the Nanosuit 2.0, combat in the New York with the aliens, who were much more humanoid in appearance now, and slaughtering of helpless civilians at the hands of the aliens. The next thing it displayed was Prophet collecting alien tissue, and then using what appeared to be an ancient Earth radio.

"I know you're there, Hargreave. I need the Tunguska Iteration to finish what I've started. We both know I am our only hope now." – He spoke into the radio.

It took a few seconds for a response to be received.

"You can understand that I am reluctant to give away the superweapon that could be used against Humanity's greatest threat to someone who betrayed me. The fact is, I don't trust you enough, Prophet. And right now we are on the road to victory, if you'll surrender's the suit, we will gladly finish what you've started, as a matter of fact." – The old man's voice came back

"Facts! If you'd get out of that hidey hole of yours and took a long stroll in Manhattan, you'd see plenty of facts! Facts without heads, facts with their limbs torn off! Facts having their flesh melted down by the disease unleashed by our common enemy! You'd see plenty of brutal facts! If this is your road to victory, Hargreave, I am glad I'm not around to witness your defeat." – Prophet said, before crushing the radio.

The next segments showed Prophet fighting his way into the Ceph Lithoship, and ultimately destroying it.

"Not so crazy now, am I?" – The Nanosuit Commando said.

There were few minutes of silence as Shepard's team processed what they've just seen.

Hansen was the first to break the silence: "This… This happened on Earth?"

"Yes, soldier. Earth's original owners decided to come back. And they didn't like what they've seen." – Prophet answered, before pausing for a few seconds and remembering Hargreave and others like him – Who were capable of throwing away millions of lives for what they saw as the higher good – And decided to finish his sentence: "And at times, I can't really blame them."

"What do you mean by original owners?" – The soldier asked dumbstruck.

"The Ceph have been around forever, man. They were the first ones who decided to build on it. And they only see us as thieves who stole their property. From a certain point of view, they are even right."

"You sound awfully a lot like you sympathize with them." – Shepard noted.

"I don't. And even if I though they were right with their ownership issues, I can never sanction a genocide. No nation – No species ever deserves to be at the received side of it." – Prophet answered simply.

"Just outta curiosity, what year is it?" – Hansen asked.

Prophet looked at Hansen a bit confused before answering: "2023."

"Odd. I could've sworn that year was century-and-a-half past." – Ashley said suspiciously.

"Look, it's all interesting, but we should get back at the issue at hand. How is this situation going to be resolved?" – Prophet said in an attempt to change the focus to the present.

"Obviously we can't stay in this stalemate forever. Can I trust you _not _to blow up the ship?"

Prophet reached to his suit's mask and proceeded to remove it.

"What are you doing?" – Shepard asked.

"If we haven't met face to face, how would you be able to tell that I wasn't lying to you?" – Prophet said.

"I take it you are not going to blow us sky high?"

"You don't appear to be working for Hargreave. That's a good start. So, the answer to your question is, no. At least not until you give me a reason to."

"Alright then, you'll be granted a formal status of Prisoner of War and will be required to get out of that armor of yours."

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. As I believe your technicians already discovered, this suit is a marvel of engineering. But as, everything else, it comes with a catch. The suit is symbiotic. If I remove it, I die."

"Yeah, I believe the vid said something about how that Hargreave knew about the suit being symbiotic." – Hansen interjected.

Ashley leaned over to Hansen and said: "Corporal. Shut up. I don't want you provoking this guy."

"Sorry Ma'am." – Was all he said.

"Without the suit removal, I accept your terms." – Prophet said.

"That kind of defeats the point, doesn't it?" – Shepard mumbled to himself, before responding to Prophet. "Alright, I'll see what arrangements I can make."

**SSV Normandy SR1, Comm Room**

Anderson had summoned Shepard into the Comm Room. It was obvious what this was about: Prophet.

Shepard entered the room. He was not sure what to expect. The only thing he knew for a fact is that Anderson wouldn't be too pleased by the fact that they have a prisoner on board who is kept in "captivity" only by his own free will.

"Sir." – Shepard began – "I take full responsibility for what happened, but there was little I, or anyone else on my team for that matter, could do to stop it."

"I believe you, Shepard, but it's not me who you have to convince. Apparently, this… Discovery got the attention of the High Command. They've assigned a representative to interrogate you." – Anderson replied. – "He should be contacting us shortly."

"Interrogate me? I was not aware I was a prisoner."

"I'm not too happy about this either, Shepard. But we don't have a lot of choice in this matter."

"Captain, we're receiving an incoming transmission from High Command." – Joker notified the two over ship's Intercom.

"Alright, patch them through." – Anderson ordered.

Comm Room's monitor flashed to life, revealing a Department of Internal Naval Affairs officer.

"Greetings, Commander. I'm Major Antella of the Department of Internal Naval Affairs. The High Command has chosen me to be their representative. We, indeed, have a lot to discuss. Captain Anderson, if you'd excuse us…"

"I am this ship's Captain and you're interrogating a member of my crew. Do you really expect me to just walk out of this room?" – Anderson responded furiously.

"Unfortunately for your case, Captain, the Admirals have granted me authority in this matter. If you'd like, you can file a complaint to the High Command, I am sure they will respond within few days." – Antella said, keeping his composure.

Anderson, with obvious annoyance, exited the room – Leaving only Shepard and – over the Communications System – Major Antella.

"I assure you Commander that this hearing will last only as long as necessary. We don't want to disrupt the operations of our most advanced vessel." – The Major said.

"And by "hearing", you of course mean "interrogation"?"

"Call it what you will, Commander, but your mission to Eden Prime was a fiasco and quite frankly could cause a diplomatic incident with the Council. I think we deserve to know what happened."

"Alright, ask me what you want to know."

Antella smirked. "We already know what happened on Eden Prime itself; we received a full report by your Captain. What High Command wants to know about is that supersoldier you've captured. And as such, tell me everything you know about him."

Shepard couldn't help but sigh before proceeding. "When we first encountered him, he displayed that his armor was an engineering marvel: It possessed a sophisticated cloaking system and an armor that could take a lot of heat. It appeared that the armor had modes that needed to be switched and couldn't operate all of them at the same time."

"Yes… If I remember correctly, he called himself "Prophet". Any significance behind this name you are aware of?"

"None I can think of."

"Alright, also there was an incident in the makeshift lab when you tried to examine the supersoldier as per High Command's request. What happened there?"

"Our chief engineer – And therefore the most technically skilled man on the ship – Began scanning Prophet. This apparently triggered some sort of safety mechanism that waked Prophet up. He proceeded to confront the squad that was guarding Engineer Adams and our Chief Medical Officer. I tried to negotiate with him, and he too saw it would be foolish to take on four armed hostiles while unarmed and lacking the Element of Surprise. When one of the soldiers called him crazy because he mentioned some alien race called "the Ceph", he uploaded video files which… We'll upload them and then you'll see for yourself."

"Intriguing, I look forward to reviewing them. Any chance you can send us the armor?"

"No, apparently the armor also acts as Prophet's life support system. If he removes it, he dies."

"Then that isn't an option. He's far more useful alive…" – Major Antella muttered to himself.

Overhearing what the Major said, Shepard replied: "Useful? Prophet's been granted status of a Prisoner, and that, as per Geneva Convention of 2089 means that decisions of his life or death aren't to be made over usefulness!"

"Of course, my mistake." – Antella stated, realizing what he said. – "That'll be all Commander. Should we need some additional filling in, we'll contact you."

Comm Room's monitor shut down. Shepard didn't like Antella. He knew that the Department of Internal Naval Affairs had a reputation for shadiness, but the Major just took it to another level by openly defying the Geneva Convention.

**Unknown Spacestation**

**Few hours later**

This was time like any other on the Station. The systems were running smoothly and a man was sitting in his throne, smoking a cigarette and reading various reports while the blue star the station orbited lighted the room's interior. This wasn't just another day in the life of Cerberus' sole ruler, however. Major Antella, as always, submitted a report to him whenever something significant occurred. Without him and others like him, the Cerberus would've likely been long since exterminated by the Systems Alliance. Cerberus was perhaps among the best informed organizations in the Galaxy, second only to the Shadow Broker's spy ring.

Today's report, however, was exceptional. It included information about a rather amazing discovery made by Humanity's most advanced starship. The information about the Nanosuit Commando was available to a select few in the Galaxy. Thanks to Antella, the Illusive Man also had access to this information. And he was looking forward to reviewing it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **No, this story is far from dead. Unfortunately my estimates on release times (aka twice a week) were too optimistic. If anything, I hope quality beats quantity. The chapter itself was ready last week, but it needed some serious polishing. I also reinstalled and am in process of replaying ME1, so I can minimize the number of canon errors like that infiltrator cloak thing. Either way, this chapter is as long as all the previous chapters combined, so I hope it was worth the wait.

It was also brought to my attention that Prophet has been a little unlike himself. Well lets see what he has been through so far: The man had been through god knows how many wars, then fought friggin' aliens, survived tactical nuking of the alien positions ("The Reckoning" mission from original Crysis), found out he was bound to his nanosuit for a lifetime, has been betrayed by Hargreave, saw half of the Manhattan get slaughtered by said aliens, got killed by 20 megaton explosion and later was revived by his nanosuit only to find himself in an alternate universe… I think that tends to make people irrational and paranoid. I agree that I overdid his paranoia, but not by too much.

I may rewrite it, but I don't plan on doing it until I develop the story a bit further.

Either way, I'll take this opportunity to thank all those that took time to read my story.

**SSV Normandy SR1, Crew Deck**

**July 21****st**** 2183**

This has been an eventful day for Shepard. Even now that it has been half an hour until midnight, he still had one last thing to do. He still needed to interrogate Prophet in detail. The deck was awfully quiet, as most of the crew was in Sleeper Pods, and the minority that worked the night shift was either in Engineering or CIC.

Shepard walked toward the storage room. He saw three of the six Marines he had assigned to guard Prophet. The remaining three were probably off-duty as the Marines broke into two shifts.

Shepard knew that even if all of the Marines onboard Normandy were to guard Prophet, it would most likely be only a ceremonial role, pretty much as it was right now. If Prophet truly wanted to escape, he would have little problem as this time he wasn't neither surrounded nor lacked complete awareness of his surroundings.

As he began approaching the Storage Room's doors, he could overhear two Marines talking.

"So, what do you think of this Prophet guy?" – The first asked the other.

"I dunno, man. Cybernetic armor… It's just some damn interesting and damn messed up thing at once. I mean, who would tie themselves to an armor for the duration of their life?" – The other one replied.

"I hear Quarians do it."

"Yeah, but they've got weak immune systems or something… And from what I've heard from Beta Squad, this guy is – was – a perfectly normal human being before entering that suit. He must have…" – The second Marine talked back before spotting incoming Shepard – "Sir! The prisoner's inside and has made no attempt to escape!"

"Alright, let me in. I want to talk to him." – Shepard said.

"Sir, yes Sir!" – He replied in professional manner, before unlocking the doors and letting Shepard proceed.

Shepard slowly walked in. He wasn't afraid, but he sure as hell was nervous. For all he knew, this all was part of Prophet's ruse to get himself in a more favorable and fightable position.

"Shepard." – Prophet greeted the Commander.

"Prophet, I'm here…"

"… To interrogate me?" – Prophet interrupted Shepard.

"I guess you could call it that. The memories you gave us were mere segments, and some of things referenced in them made little sense to us. Also, I am here to brief you one some things, but that will have to wait until later."

"Alright, but I will not disclose any information that may be in violation of US Special Forces Operational Security: Protocols, codes, designations, et cetera."

"The United States is a member-nation of the Systems Alliance, so there's no need for that."

"I believe your story, but I don't believe it unconditionally, Shepard."

Shepard sighed. He knew that there was almost no way he could convince Prophet that he was telling the truth. And right now, he was way too tired to argue with him.

"Alright, just tell me everything non-OPSEC about your history with that armor of yours and how you got to be here."

"I was a member of the US Delta Force, and had significant deployment history: Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Quebec Secession Crisis, the Third Indo-Pakistani War, and various black ops operations. Apparently I excelled enough to be noticed by some important figures in R&D Department. I was transferred to the Nanosuit Program which was – At the time – Under control of Jacob Hargreave."

"Who was this Hargreave, anyway?" – Shepard asked.

"He was the founder of Hargreave-Rasch Corporation, as well as its offspring CryNet Systems. He also was the one who designed the first Nanosuit. You can imagine that the Government was more than happy to fund his program as the world became more and more unstable and we needed every advantage over the other potential superpowers we could get. And hence the Nanosuit was born."

"The Nanosuit is your armor, correct?"

"Yes, it pretty much is. Anyhow, US Department of Defense ordered some dozen suits to be built, and I was assigned with one squad that was fully equipped with Nanosuits. This was still an experimental program, to see how well we would do against other human threats. Or so we thought. Then, after several successful missions came the Lingshan Island. Our mission was to locate and evacuate a group of researchers off the island after the North Koreans invaded. However, Hargreave already knew there were Ceph on the island and meant the whole operation as a mere test ground to see how well the Nanosuits would do against the actual threat he designed them against. Needless to say, it didn't go as well as he'd hope to. Then, as you already know, I made my way back to New York and stole the Nanosuit 2, which was the refined version of its older model: It had some upgrades like an AI and better power cells."

"Wait, you have an AI in there?" – Shepard asked, a bit shocked

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Well, AIs are technically illegal where we're going."

"Why's that?" 

"Some time ago, one of the alien races, the Quarians, built these machines they called the Geth – The same mechs you fought back on Eden Prime – and intended them for manual labor. They weren't a true AI, but merely an extremely sophisticated computer program. Eventually they evolved into AI, which scared the shit out of Quarians who tried to shut them down. In the following war, the Geth prevailed, killed billions of Quarians and forced them off their homeworld. I'm pretty sure that isn't the original cause for the ban, but it is the most common argument as to why the AIs shouldn't be built."

"Well, if it helps, the AI I possess is intentionally left just below the sentience. I guess that we were afraid that something similar could occur, due to AI being able to assume control over the suit at certain times."

Shepard was notably disturbed by this.

"Can it be disabled?" – Shepard asked.

"No way to do it without killing me in the process, as the AI also controls all the life support functions."

"Then I'll pretend I didn't hear that AI part. For your sake." – He said. – "Alright, carry on."

"After I stole the suit, I met this ex-CryNet scientist that decided to assist me. His name was Nathan Gould. After I accidentally absorbed some alien tissue, we were able to figure out that the suit was adapting it into biological weapon against the Ceph. Ultimately this was what we needed to destroy the Ceph ship that was parked below Central Park. In the end, I absorbed enough tissue and the suit adapted it enough to be damn near what was necessary. But there was one final piece to the puzzle I didn't possess: The Tunguska Iteration. It was a stabilizing agent that would complete the bioweapon. Hargreave had it, but he wasn't willing to give it up. So I proceeded without it in one last all-or-nothing attempt. The Ceph Lithoship absorbed the tissue, causing a 20 megaton blast. And the next thing I know, I'm on your Eden Prime."

"Well, that doesn't exactly explain it. 20 Megaton blasts usually don't transfer you to what I guess you could call a parallel universe, given that a lot of things you told me never happened here. And what would be well known things like that Indo-Pakistani War. Hell, Soviets detonated a 50 Megaton nuke, and as far as we know no one accidentally got transferred to a parallel universe." – Shepard pointed out.

"This shit just keeps getting weirder by the minute, doesn't it?" – Prophet replied. – "Let's put it this way: The bioweapon was incomplete and God knows what those Ceph build their Ship Cores from and how stable the thing is. Hell, it most likely has been a side-effect from the fact that I didn't have the Tunguska Iteration."

"We most likely won't ever know." – Shepard said.

"True. This is why we should focus on what's going on right now. You said you wanted to brief me on something?" – Prophet stated.

"Yes. You see, what you did back there on Eden Prime with that Beacon has caused a political explosion within the Council."

"The Council?" – Prophet asked a bit confused. – "Is that the ruling body of Earth?"

"Uhh, no. The Council is the representative body of the many alien species. We've been trying to get a seat on it for a while now. Anyhow, we are going to have an audience with them somewhere tomorrow."

"Why are we answering to an alien government we aren't even part of?"

"You see, they sent a Specter – Sort of like an above the law Spec Ops guy – Along with us and he got killed."

"You mean that alien body back on Eden Prime? The one you've called Nihlus?"

"Yes. He was a Turian. I am going to give you a copy of a Galactic Codex – An encyclopedia basically – So you can get back up to speed. Either way, they have requested that you come along for the hearing."

"Isn't it a bit risky to take someone you don't trust in front of what's basically the galactic leadership?" – Prophet said, a bit confused by an obviously unnecessary risk the Council would be taking.

"With all the likeliness, they are going to appear over holograms rather than in person. And plus, they will assign a massive escort to you. Anyway, prepare yourself."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, it is." – Shepard said, before moving toward the room's doors.

"There's something else you may want to know." – Prophet said.

Shepard turned towards Prophet questionably, but decided not to say anything.

"The beacon on Eden Prime… It uploaded something to my suit before exploding. Some video of apparently random acts of violence against a race of humanoids I never seen before. It didn't make much sense though."

"Interesting… I'll mention it in my report." – Shepard said. Having something uploaded by a Prothean artifact was unheard of, but Shepard questioned its validity as it could've easily been a hallucination Prophet seen when he was knocked out.

**Serpent Nebula, Near the Citadel**

**July 22****nd**** 2183**

The Citadel, as always, was an impressive sight. The close second was its huge Asari flagship, the Destiny Ascension. To some of the Normandy's crew, it was their first visit to Citadel. To others it was one of many. To Shepard it didn't matter, as he knew the visit was going to center mostly around politics. They soon docked with the Citadel.

He, along with Ashley and Kaiden who was finally up again, proceeded to ship's airlock where he was met with Prophet and three Marines who were guarding him.

Kaiden was obviously a bit disturbed when he saw Prophet, as he wasn't very comfortable with the idea of having the supersoldier around.

"Oh don't worry Kaiden, he _promised _not to knock us out this time." – Ashley couldn't help but to crack a joke which no one besides her found amusing.

"That's reassuring, thank you very much." – Kaiden commented sarcastically.

Both Prophet and Shepard ignored the two.

"Everybody's here, and I'm informed that our assigned C-SEC escort is here. Let's move out." – Shepard ordered.

As they approached the airlock, Joker's voice over intercom said: "Standby, opening the airlock. Oh, and Shepard: Try not to bring any additional cybernetic alternate universe commandos from the past this time, will you?"

Shepard sighed at the pilot. He, no matter what the situation was, always had to live up to his nickname.

The group exited the Normandy and the first thing Prophet noticed was that they were greeted by dozen or so C-SEC officers who were already pointing their guns at them. The men were obviously a bit afraid of the figure in the black armor that resembled human musculature.

Prophet, as any experienced soldier, already began making plans on how to combat his escort in case things took a turn for the worse.

"L… Lieutenant Johnson of C-SEC, Sir! We are your escort! Follow us to the Presidium!" – The officer rambled, and Shepard's group complied.

Many of the C-SEC officers were chatting between themselves. Prophet could easily hear what they were saying, but decided to pay little attention to the conversations, as most of them consisted of "Man, what the hell is that guy?", "I hope we don't have to fight him" and similar sentences. Instead he focused on this "Citadel" and its architecture. While it did resemble a human design, there was also something incredibly alien about it.

"Alien." – Prophet proverbially spat at the word in his thoughts. Even though Shepard seemed comfortable with having aliens in his vicinity – As witnessed by the fact that he didn't seem the least suspicious of the aliens in their escort – Prophet most certainly was not. The previous aliens tried to exterminate the Human race, and in his mind these aliens were no different. The "First Contact War" he remembered reading about in the Codex Shepard gave him was all the proof he needed: Turians attacked the Systems Alliance for disobeying a law they didn't even know existed and when the Council saw that humans were more than a match for them, they stepped in to solve the thing diplomatically.

The walk toward the Presidium was a long one, and even though they were moving through areas that have been cleared of civilians (mostly because a shootout with Prophet could easily result in a high civilian casualty rate), there has been little attempt to cover up the whole thing.

As they approached their destination that were present only over the holograms, Shepard gestured at his two teammates to hold position as he, Prophet and the C-SEC escort climbed the stairs towards the Councilors, who were represented by their holograms. As they approached, the Turian Councilor decided to speak out.

"You certainly took your time, Commander." – He said.

"Only because they followed the routes you demanded they follow." – Anderson, who was also entering the chambers, said – Causing Ambassador Udina who was with him to give him a look of warning.

"That is irrelevant to the reasons why we are here." – The Asari Councilor interjected.

"My Asari colleague here is quite correct: We have more important issues to discuss." – The Salarian Councilor agreed.

"Yes, of course…" – The Turian replied. "However before we proceed, I don't believe that C-SEC presence here is necessary. Our guest is unarmed and we already have more than enough security precautions in place."

Lt. Johnson, knowing what the Turian meant, ordered his men out. Once they exited, the Asari Councilor spoke:

"We already know what happened on Eden Prime…"

"Despite your government's attempts to make it otherwise, especially about your friend here…" – The Turian spoke up, gesturing towards Prophet.

"…But there were several anomalies with the report we received." – The Asari continued her sentence, ignoring her Turian counterpart.

"The report does not contain any pertinent information as to who killed Nihlus." – The Salarian spoke up.

"That is because we don't know who did it." – Anderson answered simply. "But from the looks of it, Nihlus was taken off guard. Whoever did it either was extremely skillful or someone Nihlus knew."

"And then, all out of nowhere our armored commando appeared and ambushed Shepard along with his squad." – Turian noted. – "I believe that he qualifies as extremely skillful. It is obvious that he killed him."

"Except I didn't. I had little reason to do it." – Prophet said, keeping his cool demeanor even though beneath that veil he was actually raging at the fact he had to answer to a petty alien.

"That means very little coming from a man who fancies himself to be from some sort of alternate universe savior of humanity." – The Turian replied.

"You know what the trouble with that is? My suit records everything. My every memory since putting the first nanosuit is in there. I can transfer the video to your technicians to analyze it and prove that I'm telling the truth."

"Ah yes, the memory segments. These days the video editing and animation are so advanced that one could forge the video and claim it to be real. Someone without serious expertise could easily be misled by this. The fact that you are using your forging expertise to support your delusion is sad to say the least."

"But you do have some skilled enough to do it, don't you?" – Prophet saw through Turian's bluff.

"Yes, of course." – The Turian said innocently.

"Then I will upload the relevant memory segments and send them to the said technicians."

The Turian was annoyed to say the least, but managed to keep his behavior same as it was before. He had hoped to use Prophet as a sacrificial lamb and after he was executed to get the nanosuit to the Turian Hierarchy, so that it could be studied and hopefully replicated.

"Who then would be able to kill Nihlus? Obviously not the Geth." – Udina tried to be useful to the discussion.

"True enough. Nihlus was a Specter, one of the best. Even if he was distracted it would take someone else with similar skill set to kill him." – The Asari said.

"Another Specter, then?" – Shepard suggested.

"Impossible! That would mean that the Specter in question has gone rogue, and such thing is unheard of." – The Turian dismissed it immediately.

"There's a first time for everything, isn't there? And plus, a Specter pretty much is the only one that matches the skill level you've described." – Shepard replied.

"Next to your nanosuit friend, of course." – The Turian replied.

Then the Asari Councilor spoke up: "Let's assume that the murderer was a Specter. Who would Nihlus trust enough to lower his guard?"

"As far as I know, Nihlus didn't make a lot of friends among the Specters. As a matter of fact, he trusted only his former mentor, Saren." – The Salarian, who was obviously familiar with Nihlus, replied.

"Saren is a living legend among the Specters! Are you accusing him of going rogue? I will not listen to these baseless accusations!" – The Turian reacted angrily.

"I do not accuse anyone, but you are correct: We do not have any evidence to support that either Prophet or Saren are guilty of killing Nihlus." – The Salarian replied once more.

"There still is one more issue: The destroyed beacon." – The Asari said.

"Yes, I look forward to our guest's explanation of that." – The Turian Councilor said, with what would be a Turian equivalent of a smirk on his face.

"The fact is I did not destroy it. After I finished off the Geth I proceeded to investigate the beacon, hoping to find out why the Geth were guarding it. It pulled me into the air, bypassed my suit's firewalls and uploaded a video of sorts into my mind." – Prophet said, wasting no time.

"Video of what, if you do not mind us asking?" – The Salarian spoke up.

"A video of what appeared to be random acts of violence committed against a humanoid race unlike any I have seen. After that, the beacon simply exploded. It could've overloaded, or it could've been a defensive protocol." – Prophet said simply.

"I don't suppose you can upload us the video as well?" – The Turian asked.

"No, it was uploaded directly into my brain." – Prophet clarified.

"How convenient." – The Turian noted.

"Right now, however, we cannot charge Prophet with anything. As far as we are concerned, he is free to remain in Alliance captivity.." – The Asari Councilor said.

"Our technicians will contact you, Prophet. You will upload the evidence of your innocence to them." – The Salarian stated.

"So far, there is no evidence as to who killed Nihlus. Should this change, inform us. The meeting of this Council is adjourned." – The Asari finally said.

The holograms of the Councilors disappeared and the humans were left alone in the chambers.

"Alright, we'll remain at the Citadel for a while, given that the Alliance hasn't assigned us with any new missions. Shepard, I want you to take your team and look around a little. I have this gut feeling that Saren is involved in this after all." – Anderson broke the silence.

"And while you're at it, try not to blow up anything will you? Remember that I have to clear up any shit you make." – Udina, being his usual self, said.

"What about me, though? Am I to stay on the ship?" – Prophet shifted the focus of attention back to his own status.

"You have been kept under our captivity by your own free will, so there is no point." – Shepard said, before turning his attention toward his Captain. – "Sir, with your permission, I'd like to bring Prophet along for this one."

Anderson was torn between granting Shepard his request and outright denying it. He knew that there was no real way he could keep Prophet in custody and that his cooperation was only prompted by Prophet's free will. He also knew that there was going to be at least some controversy over his public appearance.

Ultimately, he decided to grant Shepard his request.

"There's really nothing we can do to enforce our will upon him, and antagonizing him isn't the brightest idea either." – He rationalized.

"Alright Shepard. He is _your_ responsibly now." – Anderson said.

"What? Are you crazy?" – Udina said, entirely expecting Anderson to deny Shepard his request. – "We can't have him walking around! He'll just escape!"

"If I wanted to escape, I could've done it at any given time after I accepted to be your prisoner." – Prophet pointed out. – "I only obey any orders I am given out of purely out of the fact that the Systems Alliance Navy appears to be as close of a successor to the US SpecOps there currently is."

"I've made my decision." – Anderson affirmed, much to Udina's dissatisfaction. – "Just don't cause any unnecessary havoc out there, Prophet."

Shepard, along with his team moved out of the Citadel Tower, and then a thought stuck Shepard.

"Dammit, I forgot to restock on medigel." – He said.

"Well, that shouldn't be too expensive. It's just a matter of finding a clinic." – Ashley replied.

"I think I know a way to one." – Shepard stated. – "Follow me."

The team followed Shepard, and was often looked upon by the civilians, due to Prophet's Nanosuit (which was rather ironic, considering that the suit was designed for Covert Ops, among other things).

As they approached the clinic, gunshots could be heard.

_Threat Detected_ – Prophet's AI informed him.

Prophet instinctively pulled up his Tactical Visor and began sweeping the horizon with it. The shots appeared to be coming from within the clinic so he turned on his Nanovision.

_Nanovision Enabled _– SECOND once again informed its user.

"I count four hostiles, what appears to be a Turian C-SEC officer and a woman, all within the clinic." – Prophet said.

"Alright, we'll move in and help out the C-SEC on this one!" – Shepard informed his squad.

"Shepard, I am going to need a weapon." – Prophet replied to the Commander

Shepard eyed him for a few moments, before deciding to give him his pistol. It was obvious Shepard still didn't trust Prophet too much at this point.

_Error: Unable to Interface with the Weapon _– SECOND informed Prophet, this caused him to make a mental note to himself to find a way to fix that particular problem.

"Alright, you three go in and distract the hostiles by firing at 'em, I'll do the subtle approach and flush 'em out!" – Prophet said before cloaking.

"Oh, since when does he command this group?" – Shepard mumbled to himself, before turning to his squad. – "Alright, you heard the man! Let's move out!"

Shepard and his squad started running towards the entrance of the clinic. One of the thugs moved his head out of the cover to see what was going on, only to be instantly shot by the Turian.

"Damn, he's a good shot." – Shepard thought as he laid down suppressing fire. Just as he began to wonder what was taking Prophet so long, the latter decided to make his move.

Prophet grabbed the nearest thug by his throat and used him as a human shield as he shot at the other two, who barely had time to comprehend what was going on before having their internal organs shredded by Prophet's bullets.

After the two fell, Prophet released his hostage who was already dead due to crushed neck.

"So this is your idea of a due process? You could've easily knocked them out, you know." – Shepard scolded at Prophet.

"They most likely deserved worse." – Prophet replied with no empathy in his voice.

With their discussion done, they turned their attention to the C-SEC officer and the Doctor that were in the room.

"Your friend here is right. Given their gang marks, they more than likely committed crimes far worse than a raid at a clinic." – The C-SEC officer said. – "Doctor, are you alright?"

"I am alright, thank you. Thank all of you." – The Doctor, who was quite clearly still in shock, responded.

"Do you have any idea why they attacked you?" – Shepard asked.

"Probably some scum that wanted to get their hands on some money." – C-SEC officer concluded.

"No… They are working for Fist." – The Doctor responded.

"Fist?" – Prophet asked curiously.

"Fist's a small gang leader who worked with the Shadow Broker. Rumor's that he's betrayed him and is working for someone else now. If that's true, then these certainly weren't here for some random raid." – The C-SEC officer answered.

Although Prophet wasn't too sure who the Shadow Broker is, from the way the officer said it, he figured he was someone important and decided not to ask any further questions.

"Still, why would they attack the doctor?" – Shepard insisted.

"Some two days ago, I treated a Quarian for gunshot wound. She seemed desperate to get to safety and had some sort of information with her, so I put her in touch with Fist. These were apparently sent to shut me up about her."

"This may be what we are looking for, Commander." – Kaiden told Shepard.

"I agree. This may indeed be the piece of information we are looking for." – Shepard replied.

"I don't know what you are looking for, but this may be what I was looking for as well." – The C-SEC officer said. – "I've been trying to get some evidence against Fist for a while now. And now he's plain crossed the line. I guess we're after the same man. You handled yourself well in combat and I doubt Fist's just going to surrender to the authorities. I may need some help."

"Alright, we'll work together then." – Shepard replied.

"Great. I'm Garrus Vakarian, but just call me Garrus." –Garrus introduced himself.

"Commander John Shepard of the Systems Alliance Navy." – Shepard in turn introduced himself.

"You sure you don't need anything, Doc?" – Kaiden offered.

"No, I'll be fine; but thank you." – The Doctor replied.

The team then walked out of the clinic. Garrus kept staring and Prophet's nanosuit before finally speaking up: "What kind of armor is that?"

"It's classified." – Prophet replied simply, not being in mood to start an entire conversation, especially not with an alien.

"And then they call me paranoid when I say the Alliance is taking over…" – Garrus joked.

"Do you have any idea where we can find this Fist of yours?" – Shepard asked.

"Ha! The man's probably getting drunk at the Chora's Den. He recently took over from the poor bastard that used to run the place and is now getting everything at a _discount._" – Garrus said.

"I guess that's as good of a place to start as any." – Shepard replied.

**Cerberus Spacestation**

**Earlier that day**

The Illusive Man was sitting in his throne as usual. However, that was about the only thing that was as usual for him that day. He was, by no means, unaccustomed to reviewing intelligence he received – As a matter of fact, he wouldn't entrust that job to anyone but himself – But this was hardly everyday intel.

He took a long breath of his cigarette before returning his attention back to the holographic report that was in front of him. It wasn't like he didn't read it before, but the report was truly unbelievable to the point the Illusive Man was trying to decide whether or not it was a hoax.

"From what intel has been gathered, the supersoldier claims he is from the early 21st century. The video files appear to deny this, as they display events that we (with full access to all of the top-secret graded project files from the time) have not been able to verify." – The Illusive Man read one line of the report. The memory of the memory segments was still fresh in his mind. It was like his personal hell: Although Cerberus as whole did not have too strong of an anti-alien agenda, the Illusive Man did. Seeing all those aliens take over mankind's home and humans being unable to do nearly anything about it minus the efforts of few people like Prophet was a horrid experience.

He still remembered quite vividly the sight of New York, one of the greatest cities humanity has ever built, being torn down piece by piece by these Ceph.

His thought process shifted back to Prophet himself. In a way, he could see that Prophet represented what humanity was in his eyes. Prophet's indomitable will ensured quite a few of Ceph's defeats and made any alien victory a costly one. He could see that he was the last best hope for humanity wherever it is he came from. And then he bitterly realized that as far as that humanity was concerned, he was gone. Without him, it was just a matter of time before the Ceph prevailed. He took comfort in knowledge that unlike some aliens, those humans will not back down and make peace with the fact that their doom was inevitable, but will rather keep on fighting while there was still a single one of them left breathing.

That humanity, however, was not his concern. He already had his own to defend and even if he wanted to help the battle against the Ceph, he knew that there was no way for him to do so. His attention shifted back to the present as he continued reading – or rather to skim through – the report.

"The supersoldier is likely a xenophobe, as his only experience with extraterrestrial beings was combat with the aliens he calls the Ceph, making him a potential recruit for our organization." – Another part of the report said. The Illusive Man couldn't help it, but smile ominously at this part. Prophet himself could easily replace his three SpecOps squads, and if the technology used to create his nanosuit could be replicated, Cerberus' future – As well as humanity's – Would be secure. The last part wasn't as unrealistic as it sounded, even though the suit's technology was at least a hundred years ahead of anything the galaxy possessed, as the Illusive Man had some of the best human scientists and billions of credits at his hand.

Then he turned his attention to yet another part of the text: "The supersoldier calls himself 'Prophet'. No significance behind this name is known, and is likely not subject's actual name but rather a callsign or similar."

And then a thought that has been haunting the Illusive Man ever since he first analyzed the report came back into his focus: What if Prophet indeed was a prophet of sorts? A prophet of their own destruction? _What if there were Ceph on this Earth?_

He couldn't let something as important go on uninvestigated. Alliance most likely wasn't going to do anything of like due to their shortsightedness and that's, as the Illusive Man knew, where the Cerberus always steps in. This is why he arranged to speak to one of his SpecOps squad leaders.

His Quantum-Entanglement communicator came to life, as it displayed a Cerberus Trooper. The trooper was better equipped than one might expect of a standard Cerberus soldier, as he was a squad leader of a Cerberus' SpecOps squad.

"Sir, I was told by our usual contact that you wanted to see me." – The trooper said.

"That is quite correct, Captain. I have a mission of utmost importance that needs to be done." – The Illusive Man replied.

"You know you called the best, Sir." – The trooper talked back.

"Indeed… The Alpha Squad has been one of Cerberus' most important assets so far. Tell me Captain, have you ever heard of Lingshan Island?" – Cerberus' Sovereign asked.

"Geography never was my strong suit, Sir." – The Captain responded.

"It's an insignificant island nearby the Korean Peninsula. I want you to scout it."

"Are we suspecting that something of importance is there, Sir?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. It could be a possible foothold for an alien invasion."

"Alien invasion? On Earth? Who's invading, the Turians?"

"Someone far worse, Captain. Ever heard of the Ceph?"

"Not before now. Who are they?"

"A picture's worth a thousand words, Captain. A video's worth a million." – The Illusive Man said before taping some controls.

The Captain appeared to have become distracted immediately after, as he stared at something that couldn't be seen over the Illusive Man's communications system.

"Who sent you this?" – The Captain demanded after few seconds.

"I'm afraid that my sources must remain confidential. However, I can assure you that they are legitimate and trusted."

"Are we expecting that those… Squids are on that island?"

"We hope not Captain, but if they are there, they are probably in hibernation of sorts around or in the island's mountain. Assemble your men, Captain. We may have less time than we'd like to think. Get in there, try to find those Ceph and make sure to get out alive. Your primary mission is to report back what you saw." – The Illusive Man said, before terminating the transmission. It was up to the Captain now.

**Aerial Transport Vehicle en route to Lingshan Island**

**July 21****st**** 2183, 4:33 AM**

"Listen up!" – The Captain addressed the four troopers that were also in the vehicle. – "We have been ordered to scout the Lingshan Island for possible alien activity! The Illusive Man has reasons to suspect that the island is being used as a staging ground for an upcoming alien invasion!"

"Hah, if there were any landings the Alliance would've noticed! I'm tellin' ya man, the boss' losing it." – Alpha 3, one of the soldiers, said.

"Shut up and pay attention! We have our orders and we're going to execute them!" – The Captain replied to his subordinate.

"If everything proceeds as planned, we won't encounter anything." – The Captain continued with his briefing. – "But if it doesn't, we will face something like this!"

He turned on the monitor which displayed a picture of a Ceph in its metallic squid-like appearance. Alpha 3 burst into laughter.

"That's a fake, a damn good one, but a fake! If the boss really believes that to be genuine then he's truly crazy!" – He said.

The Captain pulled out his pistol and pointed it at Alpha 3.

"Keep at it, and I'll shoot you here and now!" – The Captain said, causing the soldier to grow a bit quiet.

"No offense, Captain, but we're investigating this? If we investigated every interesting _rumor_, we wouldn't get very far." – Alpha 5 said.

"The Boss thinks it's important enough and that means that it is important enough. Anyway, we have been told to specifically investigate the mountainous part of the island. The island's never been inhabited by man, so we won't face any locals."

Over the intercom the pilot could be heard: "This is as far as I go! The LZ is way to close to the mountains and I don't get paid enough to crash this thing."

"Seems we'll have to walk our way to the objective. Alright, troopers! Gear up, prepare for insertion!" – The Captain yelled orders.

"Alright, we're on the ground! This is your stop, so all passengers off the vehicle!" – The pilot said.

The Alpha Squad exited the vehicle in what could best be described as a standard military insertion, indicating that the squad had at least some military experience.

"Everybody's out! You're clear to take off!" – The Captain informed the pilot.

"Alright… Call me when you need an evac!" – The pilot said before flying out of the area. – "Until then… Adios, amigos!"

"Alpha Squad, follow me!" – The Captain ordered.

The walk was a somewhat tedious exercise, as there was absolutely nothing to observe minus the jungle.

"Couldn't the pilot set us down closer to the designated LZ?" – Alpha 2 said over the radio, but no one answered as the question was rethorical.

Suddenly, a loud and animalistic growl could be heard in the jungle.

"The hell was that?" – Alpha 4 asked.

"Some large predator… Didn't think there were any here, but apparently I was wrong." – Alpha 5 answered.

"Yeah, obviously so Alpha 5. I hope it doesn't find us though. I hate predators." – Alpha 4 replied.

"I kinda hope it does… I've been anxious to shoot some big game like forever." – Alpha 3 interjected.

"This is Alpha 1 to all Alphas, keep the comms clear unless you see something. I don't want useless chattering getting us all killed, got it?" – The Captain decided to put an end to the conversation.

As they approached their objective, the temperature started lowering. At first none of the commandos noticed it, but the closer they got to the designated coordinates the colder it got.

"Oh come on now! What's up with this cold?" – Alpha 3 broke the radio silence.

"Alpha 3, did you forget what I said about useless radio chatter?" – The Captain reminded the soldier, with whom he was starting to lose patience.

The cold continued to get worse, until they got to mere 100 meters from their objective, where the sight got as oxymoronic as it could: The jungle plants were frozen.

"Jesus man, what the hell happened here?" – Alpha 2 broke the radio silence again. This time, the Captain decided not to stop him, as he simply couldn't blame the man.

"I dunno, but this place is giving me creeps in more than one way…" – Alpha 4 also broke the silence.

"Let's keep moving." – Alpha 1 said.

Alpha 3 began firing his weapon seemingly randomly in the jungle.

"Alpha 3, what the fuck are you doing?" – The Captain demanded.

"I think I saw something move boss! Something damn big!" – The soldier replied.

The Captain finally lost patience with the soldier and started walking towards him. From some distance he began to lecture the soldier:

"Listen you trigger-happy idiot! We don't fire our weapons when we think we saw something, we fire when…"

A loud growl, not unlike the previous one they heard, interrupted the Captain. Unlike previously, now it was really close.

"The fuck…?" – Alpha 1 yelled, before a large squid-like alien came out of nowhere and pierced him with its tentacle and flew away with him still attached to it.

"WHAT THE HELL!" – One of the soldiers could be heard.

"Alpha Lead's down! I repeat, Alpha Lead's down!" – Another one of them could be heard.

"This is Alpha 2! I'm taking command, everyone regr… Argh! Get of me, you alien scu…" – Alpha 2's last words could be heard over the radio.

The remaining commandos managed to rally to a common position.

"Alright, if you see anything, and I mean _anything_, shoot it!" – Alpha 4 managed to speak out, before spotting one of the Ceph. – "There it is! OPEN FIRE! OPEN FIRE!"

Two of the troopers managed to open fire at the Ceph, but to little avail: The thing appeared undamaged in any way. It soon took yet another trooper with it.

**Aerial Transport Vehicle**

**About the same time**

The pilot has been circling the Lingshan Island ever after he dropped of the Alpha Squad. To him, it appeared to be yet another worthless piece rock and jungle. Why the Illusive Man would send in his best squad to patrol it was beyond him.

Suddenly, his comms started to beep, indicating that one of the troopers wanted to contact him. He pressed a button on the control system and started talking:

"You guys are done already?"

"Jesus… I'm the only one left… They'll come back after me..." – The voice over the radio said.

"Slow down, man! What do you mean you're the only one left?" – The pilot asked.

"You got to tell him… You got to tell the Illusive Man! They're here! They're coming… There's nothing we could've done!"

"I'm not following you, man."

"Tell him Alpha Squad went down fighting for the mankind! Oh Jesus, they're here! Have some of this, you alien piece of shit!"

What followed was a brief burst of gunshots followed by a horrific growl and a terrifying scream. What followed next was only static. That was Alpha Squad's final transmission.

**The Citadel Wards**

**Later that day**

"So… What do you know about this Chora's Den? I mean, during my previous visit to the Citadel, I didn't have the time to check out every bar on the Wards." – Shepard asked Garrus.

"I get the feeling it didn't exactly stop you from trying, Commander." – Ashley teased.

"How on Earth would you know that? You were just reassigned to the ship." – Shepard pointed out.

"But I'm not far off, am I?" – Ashley continued her tease.

"Well, now…" – Shepard started a bit uncomfortable.

"Ashley, that's Commander's way of saying "yes" at times." – Kaiden joined the conversation, causing Shepard then gave him an "Et tu, Brutus?" look.

Prophet followed the conversation and was quite perplexed at the amount of liberty Shepard allowed his subordinates to have. He remembered Psycho doing something similar to what Ashley did now. He cut him off for insubordination that very moment.

"Anyways, as I was asking… What do you know about the Chora's Den?" – Shepard returned to his original question.

"Just another bar, which as you guessed has Asari Stripdancers." – Garrus replied.

"Why does every other bar have Asari Stripdancers?" – Ashley asked rhetorically.

"The only thing that really is different about this particular bar is that Fist is commonly sighted here. And some other criminal scum too, I imagine." – Garrus finished his explanation.

The team went over one last pathway that separated them from Chora's Den and as the large neon sign that hanged over a pair of doors came into view, Garrus spoke up:

"Here we are. Better get your guns ready, Fist isn't known for his pacifism."

"So we're going in guns blazing?" – Shepard asked.

"Unfortunately, no. There's a regulation that says that we must try to arrest him without force unless he attacks us first. And given that he still hasn't attacked us…" – Garrus clarified.

"Alright, is everybody ready?" – Shepard ordered a check-in.

"Ready when you are." – Kaiden replied.

"Pretty much, Commander." – Ashley answered.

"I'm always ready, Shepard." – Prophet checked in.

"On your mark then, Garrus." – Shepard informed the C-SEC officer.

"OK, follow me and when the hell breaks loose try to keep Fist alive." – Garrus said.

As the team approached the doors, they automatically opened. The Den was what one could expect of a Citadel bar: A somewhat large room with Asari strippers and techno music.

Fist was sitting on a chair that was on the other side of the room, and therefore he saw Garrus as he entered.

"Hey, Garrus! How's it goin' man? You still beat up from our previous encounter?" – He yelled across the room.

"Barman! Give this man another glass whatever it is he was drinking! I'm buying it!" – The turian C-SEC officer yelled to the barman.

"What, you buying me a drink? What's the occasion?" – Fist yelled back.

"You are under arrest for ordering a raid on the clinic!"

Fist laughed out loud, before yelling a simple order to his fellow gang members: "Kill them!"

SECOND, as always, was carefully analyzing the surroundings, and as always informed Prophet of what was going on:

_Threat Detected_

_Recommended Tactical Assessment: Armor Mode_

As one of the gang thugs fired his mass effect powered assault rifle at Prophet, he engaged his armor mode. Only few nanoseconds later, the bullet impacted him and bounced off harmlessly.

Prophet pulled up his pistol, aimed at the thug that attacked him and pulled the trigger. The thug's head almost instantly became a bloody mess.

As the shooting began, the civilians panicked and made a break for the doors. Shepard and his squad were trying not to hit any of them, but Fist's men were far less discriminate at what they shot. Prophet could tell that they lacked any sort of squad cohesion and behaved even less like a military than the insubordinate CELL Troops in Manhattan used to.

One of the groups of civilians caused Prophet's attackers to break sight of him. He cloaked, with some 47% of suit energy left, and walked towards his attackers, flanking them.

"Where did he go?" – He could hear one of the thugs. He got behind the first attacker and grabbed him as he decloaked. The other attacker, a turian, fired at Prophet's reappearing figure but only succeeded at wounding his fellow gangster. Prophet in turn fired several bullets at his chest, killing him. He noticed that the enemy held as a human shield was still somewhat alive. He put him out of his misery by breaking his neck.

_All Hostiles Eliminated, Secure Fist _– His Nanosuit's AI announced. Indeed, when he looked at the other side of the room Shepard's squad took down six hostiles that were there.

When he looked for Fist, he didn't appear to be around. Suddenly, the criminal jumped out of cover and started firing an assault rifle at Ashley, taking down her shield.

"Now you die, you sons of bitches!" – He screamed.

Fist, however, failed to assess who was the largest threat – As it ran towards him and he, too distracted firing at Ashley, failed to see it coming until it was too late. Prophet disarmed him effortlessly and slammed Fist's own rifle into his face – Knocking him down on the floor.

"So Fist, tell me, do you have any particular prison where you'd rather go? Or is it all the same to you?" – Garrus taunted his defeated opponent.

"Go to hell…" – Fist, finally realizing his defeat, said.

"Heh." – Garrus responded to his captive, before turning attention to Shepard's group. – "You mentioned about wanting to get some information out of him. Feel free, you've earned it."

"I'll handle this." – Prophet announced.

"Alright, just don't kill him. I may prefer him dead, but regulations are regulations." – Garrus stated.

"Alright" – Prophet began, after grabbing Fist by his throat and raising him. – "You've sent those men to shut up the Doctor about the Quarian. Why?"

"Fuck you…" – Fist responded with utter defiance in his voice before trying to find an appropriate insult for the fully armored that was holding him. – "Tin man."

"I'm going to ask you one more time, and after that for each wrong answer I'll break one of your limbs." – Prophet threatened.

"The Quarian… She wanted to meet with the Shadow Broker… I was to extract the information from her… And then kill her… My men will do it in my name then…" – Fist said with some difficulty.

"Where and when is this meeting supposed to take place?" – Prophet demanded, anger becoming audible in his voice.

"In the back alleys… Not far from here… As for when… Right about now… You'll never make it there in time…" – Fist said, giving this final piece of information, and Prophet then released him. Fist immediately fell back to the floor.

"Dammit, I'm not familiar with this place at all! Fist's right, we won't make it!" – Shepard stated.

"Well, I am… But someone's gonna have to watch over Fist until C-SEC arrives." – Garrus replied.

"Kaiden! You'll do it! Contact me via radio when they arrive and I'll tell you where to meet us." – Shepard informed his subordinate.

"Officer Vakarian to C-SEC HQ! Send a squad down to Chora's Den to escort a prisoner to our brigs. You should be greeted by a Systems Alliance Marine who's keeping the prisoner in captivity!" – Garrus yelled over his radio, and then turned his attention to Shepard. – "Alright, follow me!"

The quartet stormed out of the Den and crossed that pathway, only to find the doors that separated their current chamber from the one they needed to get into sealed.

"Shit, someone sealed the doors… It would take some ten minutes to go through the alternate route, and I'm not too skilled at hacki…" – Garrus began, but was interrupted by the nanosuit commando who had long since switched to suit's default mode: The Power Mode.

Prophet started opening the doors with the sheer strength the suit provided him, and slowly but surely the doors opened.

"Impressive…" – Garrus commented.

"Let's keep moving!" – Shepard urged.

"Right." – Garrus replied, before the team started moving towards their objective once more. They took the first turn left and continued running.

Some fifty meters in front of them, the meeting was already taking place.

"Where's Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?" – A young quarian demanded.

"They'll be here…" – A turian replied to quarian's question.

"The deal's off!" – She replied as she was getting increasingly nervous and annoyed.

"Fine, have it your way, then!" – The turian said before drawing his shotgun. The quarian responded to this by throwing a tech mine, which merely temporarily stunned the turian and his two men, but bought her some time to draw her own shotgun.

Prophet, as well as the rest of the team could see what was going on. Prophet knew that the quarian didn't have a lot of time, as she was outnumbered three to one. He activated his Power Mode and started sprinting towards her, hoping he could stop the turian from killing the quarian.

As the turian was about to fire, Prophet surprised him by sprinting in front of the quarian and taking his shotgun away from him. The quarian nearly shot Prophet herself, but realizing he was on her side, she managed to stop herself from pulling the trigger.  
>Turian's face had an expression which showed his was wondering what the hell was going on. This expression soon disappeared as Prophet pulled the shotgun's trigger.<p>

Shepard, Ashley and Garrus were now in range and opened fire on the remaining two opponents, knocking down their kinetic barriers and leaving them exposed to the hailstorm of lead that exited Prophet's shotgun. One of the thugs fell instantly, whilst Garrus finished off the remaining one.

The quarian looked upon her unexpected savior and said: "Thank you… If you hadn't intervened when you did… Oh Keelah."

"Calm down, you're safe now. We'll protect you." – Prophet attempted to calm her down.

"Thank you… My name is Tali, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya." – The quarian introduced herself.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" – Shepard asked.

"No… Not at all." – Tali replied.

"You have been trying to get in contact with the Shadow Broker?" – Shepard inquired.

"Yes… I have got my hands on some information from a Geth… And this Specter has been chasing me ever since." – Tali answered. – "Here. It's an audio track of sorts."

Tali brought up her Omni-tool, something Prophet has never seen before but he was getting used to that these days, and pressed several holographic buttons on it.

"Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit." – One of the recorded voices, one of a male turian, said.

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers." – Another, this one more feminine, voice said.

"That could be what we were looking for, Commander." – Ashley commented.

"I'll give you the file. It's the least I can do." – Tali said.

"Commander! Fist's been transported to the brig, tell me where to meet you." – Shepard heard Kaiden's voice over the radio.

"Meet us at the Human Embassy at the Presidium!" – Shepard informed Kaiden.

"Alright, I'll see you there!" – Kaiden informed the group.

"You took care of Fist?" – Tali asked.

"Yes, we had him arrested before we got here." – Garrus answered Tali's question. Then, as he started to walk away he said: – "Either way, Shepard, it's time for me to go. My superiors probably won't be happy I staged a full-scaled assault on Chora's Den, and the fact that I was late for debriefing won't help either. Good luck with whoever it is you're hunting, Shepard."

**The Citadel Presidium, Human Embassy**

**Half an hour later**

Humans have been one of those species that, unlike Volus and Elcor, got their own separate embassy. The embassy itself was a pretty large room, and its current inhabitants were Shepard with his team plus Prophet, Tali and Anderson.

"Oh, what's taking him so long?" – Ashley asked rhetorically once more.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon." – Shepard replied, and a few seconds later Udina barged into the room, apparently not in calmest of his moods.

"Firefights in the wards, an all out assault on Chora's Den and now you bring this thief to the Presidium…" – Udina spoke up, before being interrupted by Tali.

"Just because I'm a Quarian…" – She rhetored.

"Shepard, are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea…" – Udina in turn ignored Tali and interrupted her as well.

"We found evidence that is relevant to the Council's investigation on Nihlus' death, and we need to have another meeting with the Council arranged." – Prophet interrupted him

"Alright, let's see this evidence of yours…" – Udina stated with anger still visible in his voice.

Tali once again brought up her omni-tool, this time with already prepared audio file and played it.

"I knew it! That's Saren's voice!" – Anderson exclaimed.

"This may be relevant evidence. It may be worth cleaning up after you again, Shepard. I'll inform the Council." – Udina said. – "Shepard you and your companions should wait outside. I don't want you accidentally blowing up the terminal."

The group exited the embassy and decided to wait "outside" the whole Embassy Complex. They spread a little over the overall territory of the Presidium, but remained in each other's line of sight.

"Can I ask something?" – Tali, who approached Prophet, inquired.

"Sure, as long it isn't related to the suit. I've been getting way too much of those questions lately." – He responded. Even though Prophet in general didn't like aliens, he figured that antagonizing every single one of them was not the smartest choice.

"I never happened to catch your name." – She said simply.

"Call me Prophet." – He answered with equal simplicity.

"Well that is an odd name." – She noted.

"A nickname, actually. But just call me that, alright?"

"If you insist. Prophet… Is there any chance I can stay with your group? The Shadow Broker will probably think I double crossed him, and I'm probably going to need protection more than ever."

"I'm not the leader. You'd have to ask Shepard. I mean, I could vouch for you, but my voice isn't going to carry a lot of weight right now."

"Why's that? I mean, you do appear to be a more than competent fighter."

"It's a long story… I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to tell it. What are you doing here on the Citadel anyway?"

"I'm on my Pilgrimage; it's basically a rite of passage into the adulthood. Young quarians are sent off the Migrant Fleet and have to learn of other civilizations and find something useful as a gift to our new ship captain when we get back to the fleet and are assigned to a new ship."

Shepard, on the other hand, was passively observing Presidium's artificial lake and was wondering where Saren's involvement in all this would lead. His radio came back online, as Anderson called him:

"Shepard, rally the squad. Udina's arranged another meeting with the Council and we shouldn't keep them waiting."

Udina worked a little faster than Shepard anticipated this time. Shepard set his radio for broadcast and said:

"Alright, everybody rally in front of the Embassies."

Then he realized that his latest two additions to the team weren't patched into the radio frequency he was using. When he saw that they already were at the destination, he realized it would be pointless to tell them to go there.

The team regrouped as Anderson and Udina exited the complex and joined them. They then paced to the Council, as it never was too wise of an idea to keep the Council waiting. The group now attracted attention of bystanders not just because of Prophet, but also because of Tali, as quarians were a rare sight on the Presidium.

As they entered the Council chambers, they were greeted by the familiar voice of the turian councilor.

"Ah, it definitely took you long enough!" – He said, making it obvious he didn't receive any extensive diplomatic training.

"We've got some new evidence, one that potentially implicates Saren." – Udina said.

"Very well, present it." – The asari councilor replied.

Udina gestured at Tali, who once again opened the audio file.

"Eden Prime was a major victory. We have been brought one step closer to finding the Conduit."

"That undoubtedly is Saren's voice." – The asari said.

"But what is this Conduit he speaks of?" – The salarian questioned.

"A potential Prothean superweapon, perhaps?" – Shepard suggested.

"It's a possibility, the Geth were defending a Prothean Beacon on Eden Prime. If it contained information that could hint the location of something as powerful, they would want to protect it at all costs." – The asari responded.

"Is this all?" – The salarian asked.

"There's more." – Anderson said.

"Very well, let's hear it." – The salarian responded.

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

A brief period of silence encompassed the room.

"My technicians confirm it, the first voice belongs to Saren and has been not been tempered with. But to whom the other voice belongs, or what these Reapers are I don't know." – The salarian broke the silence.

Reapers. It was almost like that name meant something to Prophet. Almost.

"According to a file I downloaded off the Geth, the Reapers are some sort of sentient starships that have visited the galaxy fifty thousand years ago. They see them as the pinnacle in non-organic evolution and worship them as gods." – Tali stepped in, remembering what one of the files she downloaded to her omni-tool said.

"Bah, that's more than likely to be just an elaborate lie Saren uses to rally Geth to his cause." – The turian gave his opinion.

Something on other hand, lead Prophet to believe that he was wrong. Very wrong.

"The voice I have not heard in a while, but I still remember it well. It belongs to Matriarch Benezia. She disappeared a few years ago. She apparently allied herself with Saren." – The asari replied to salarian's question.

"The real question here should be, where was this evidence recovered?" – The turian asked, apparently rather suspicious of presented evidence.

"I downloaded it off a damaged Geth platform." – Tali answered.

"Don't Geth erase all files on a platform when it is critically damaged?" – The salarian asked, apparently also growing suspicious.

"My people did create the Geth, so we know a few tricks about them. If you're fast enough, you can salvage some data. Most of the data was irrecoverable, but this audio segment was among the parts that I managed to recover." – She answered.

"Then it is concluded: Saren is a traitor and has allied himself with the Geth." – The asari spoke up. – "His Specter status is hereby terminated."

"That isn't good enough! You know Saren's hiding in the traverse! Send your fleets in!" – Udina replied, obviously enraged.

"I happen to agree! He was a Specter and as such, represented the will of this Council! While he was a Specter he committed crimes against the humanity! Don't you think you should be cleaning up your own mess?" – Prophet interjected.

"Sending fleets to the sector could trigger war with the Terminus Systems and it would impractical to send them against one man." – The asari replied.

"This is an outrage! The Council would've stepped in if Saren attacked a salarian colony!" – Udina's voice thundered, filled with anger.

"I assure you that this decision is not made on the fact that a _human_ colony was attacked." – The salarian replied.

"Then I demand you give us _something_!" – Udina replied.

"You don't get to make demands of the Council, ambassador." – The turian informed Udina calmly.

"But I agree that this is on our hands." – The asari interrupted. – "Where a fleet cannot do, a single man can: A man that represents the interests of both the Council and the Systems Alliance."

"No! It's too soon for this!" – The turian said.

"I agree, but we have little choice." – The salarian expressed his opinion.

The turian saw the point, and silently conceded to it.

"Commander Shepard, step forward." – The asari ordered. Shepard looked at his Captain, who nodded and de facto confirmed Councilor's order. Shepard took a few steps towards the end of the platform they were standing on.

"It is the decision of this Council that you, as one of the best warriors the mankind has to offer, be given all privileges and responsibilities of the Special Reconnaissance and Tactics branch of the Citadel." – The asari said.

"Specters are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fires of service and battle: Those whose actions elevate them above rank and file." – The salarian continued.

"Specters are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will."

"Specters bear a great burden: They are the protectors of the galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

"You are the first human Specter, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for your species.

"I am honored, Councilor." – Shepard said, in the most diplomatic fashion he could.

"We're sending you into the traverse against the fugitive Saren. You are authorized to use any means necessary to bring him to justice." - The asari ordered

"In light of the new evidence, you have been cleared of charges of murdering Nihlus, Prophet." – The salarian informed Prophet.

"Very well then. The meeting of this council has been adjourned." – The asari said.

The holograms of the three councilors disappeared and the room was left in silence for a few seconds, as Shepard and his group made their way out of the chamber.

"Anderson, come with me. I am going to need help in setting this up." – Udina ordered Normandy's Captain.

"Shepard, feel free to stay on the Citadel as long as you like as we currently don't have to go anywhere. Investigate, maybe you'll find a clue as to where Saren is. If something comes up, I'll call you." – Anderson informed his former subordinate.

"Alright, Sir." – Shepard replied.

"Technically speaking, I am not your superior anymore, so you can drop the "sir"." – Anderson informed, as they walked back towards the Human Embassy.

The remainder of Shepard's stay at the Citadel was less eventful and productive. It mostly consisted of buying new equipment (that was now at a certain discount) as there was almost no way to learn anything about Saren's whereabouts on the Citadel. He sent his squad (including Prophet and Tali) back to the Normandy, as there was no need for them to be on the Citadel.

After a few hours he decided to go back to Normandy himself. He made his way down to the docks where the ship was located and was surprised to see Udina and Anderson standing in front of it. Udina saw Shepard approach and turned toward him.

"Big news, Shepard. Captain Anderson has stepped down from his command in your favor."

"A Specter needs a ship. The Normandy's yours, Shepard." – Anderson said, albeit appearing a bit unhappy about the turn of events.

Shepard was stunned a bit. He definitely didn't see this one coming.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do this. It's your command, Anderson. I can't just take it away from you."

"You're not. I transferred the command of the ship to you. Good luck on your hunt, Shepard." – Anderson replied.

"We have two leads that might help you: We have reports of Geth activities on colonies of Noviera and Feros." – Udina informed Shepard.

"There's also a lead on Benezia: Her daughter, Dr. Liara T'Soni has been sighted somewhere in the Attican Traverse." – Anderson said.

"I'll begin there, then." – Shepard replied.

"We are no longer your superiors, Shepard. You don't need to report to us." – Udina rethored. – "You may be a Specter now, but your actions still reflect upon us. You were a human long before you became a Specter."

"I'll try not to cause too much controversy, but politics and cleaning up back here is your job." – Shepard replied.

"Not the answer I was looking for, but it'll have to do." – Udina replied. – "I have some business to attend to. If you have any questions, ask Anderson."

Afterwards Udina simply walked away from two and Shepard turned to his former Captain.

"How did you know Saren was involved? It sure as hell wasn't just a gut feeling."

"It's a long story, Shepard. But to make it short: When we first joined the Galactic Community, there has been a major movement to have a human specter. The Council then agreed to this and I was chosen as a candidate. They assigned Saren to work with me and evaluate me. And while we worked, I saw how got the job done. He was ruthless and would do anything as long as it got him at his desired outcome. He'd go as far as killing civilians. Later there was an incident and he blamed it on me. Ultimately the Council dropped me and the program all together. I'll tell you this about him: He has an anti-human agenda. I think it has something to do with the First Contact War."

"Why did nobody on the ship ever hear of this?" 

"What was I supposed to say? I got chosen and I screwed up? You succeeded where I failed. Now the title and its responsibilities are yours." – The former Captain replied, before himself turning towards the elevator. – "My job is here now. I'll try to keep Udina on his saner side. Good luck, Shepard."

"Thanks for everything, Anderson." – Shepard thanked him before they parted.

Shepard then entered the airlock, and was greeted with the familiar decontamination procedure.

"Standby… Decontamination in progress…" – Ship's VI informed him.

After a few seconds the decontamination beam passed over him and the VI stated the obvious: "Decontamination complete."

Shepard continued through the airlock and was greeted by Joker.

"I heard what happened to Captain Anderson. Survives a hundred battles and gets knocked down by backroom politics. Guess whoever said that pen is mightier than a sword was right." – Joker greeted his CO.

"This just feels wrong. It's like I'm stealing the ship from him."

"There's nothing you could've done and whatever happens, the crew is behind you one hundred percent. Want to say a few words to the crew?"

"Put me on the speakers."

After tapping several controls, Joker informed: "You're on, Commander."

Shepard began his speech: "As you all know the Geth attacked Eden Prime. What we previously didn't know is that the Geth have been led by a single mastermind: A former Specter Saren. And we also know that he won't stop there, he will not settle until he is in procession of what we believe could be a potential Prothean Superweapon. But we will stop him: We have the most advanced starship out there – but more importantly, we have the best crew to man it! I can say I am proud to serve with each and every one of you and if anyone can stop Saren, it's us!"

With Shepard's speech over, Joker closed the Intercom.

"Captain Anderson would've been proud." – Joker said.

"Fancy speeches aren't going to stop Saren. We need to get this ship flying." – Shepard replied.

"Aye, aye! Just point at a location on the Galaxy Map, and I'll get you there!" – Joker replied enthusiastically.

Shepard made his way to the Galaxy Map, before being interrupted by Joker: "Commander, we are receiving a transmission on the Alliance Emergency Channels!"

"I'll take it in the Comm Room." – Shepard replied.

He instead of going to the Galactic Map, as he originally planned, passed by it and entered the Communications Room.

"Alright Joker, put it up." – He said after the Comm Room's doors closed.

"Affirmative, Commander. The transmission's a bit garbled. I'll try to clear it up."

The monitors once again flashed back to life, revealing Rear Admiral O'Neil, the leader of the Earth Defense Fleet.

"This is Rear Admiral O'Neil of the SSV Kursk of Earth Defense Fleet; we have a Contingency Situation level 1 on Earth! Any available ship, please assist! Earth is under attack by unknown aliens. They're currently contained on Earth itself but few have managed to board onto our vessel… Oh god, there's a reactor breach! Everyone to the escap…"

After that, nothing. Just static. Shepard digested what he just heard in disbelief. Earth was under attack. He knew he had to do something about it. His line of thought was interrupted by Joker over intercom:

"That's it Commander, the message just repeats…"

"Joker, plot a course to Earth! Normandy will get her baptism through fire after all!" – Shepard ordered, snapping out of his line of thought.

**Author's Note: **Before you ask, the Ceph were neither randomly there nor randomly awake. Following chapters will elaborate on this further.

I also should warn you that I'm likely not going to stick 100% to the canon, as some of the things with Crysis and ME universes are likely incompatible.


End file.
